Practise marks and decisions separately
Cricket uses 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15 and bull. You need three marks to close each target: a single gives one, a double two and a treble three. Outer bull gives one mark and inner bull two. That creates two practice tasks: hit the targets reliably, and decide whether your next dart should close something or score points.
Start with the Cricket rules if marks are unfamiliar. Keep the drill results in a notebook, then use the scorer for a full game. Choose standard, no-score or cut-throat Cricket to match the skill you want to test.
Drill 1: close each number in a single visit
Throw three darts at 20, then repeat for each number from 19 down to 15. Start each number with zero marks. Your goal is to make at least three marks in that visit: T20 closes 20 immediately, while S20 and D20 also reach three. Count how many of the six targets you close, then repeat the circuit. Keep throwing at the same target for the full visit if you also want a record of total marks.
Do not turn four or five marks into extra closures. Record “closed: yes/no” and “marks” in separate columns. A visit with five marks may be strong scoring, but it still closes one target. Keeping those columns apart helps you see whether you are reliably completing targets or relying on occasional big visits.
Drill 2: ten visits at bull
Throw ten visits at bull and record outer-bull hits, inner-bull hits and misses. Convert those to marks: six outer bulls and two inner bulls would make ten marks. This is an illustrative result, not a target you must reach. Use the same 30-dart allowance next time so you can compare the totals fairly.
For a second pass, reset after each three-dart visit and count how often you make at least three bull marks. Inner bull plus outer bull is enough; one inner bull alone is not. This asks whether you can complete the target within a visit, which is a different question from how many marks you collect across ten visits.
Drill 3: choose between closing and scoring
Use this standard-Cricket situation: you have two marks on 20, your opponent has one, and you trail by 30 points. T20 uses one mark to close your 20 and scores 40 with the other two marks while the opponent’s 20 remains open. You would lead by ten. Say that outcome before throwing, then recalculate for the dart you actually hit.
Now change the situation so both players already have 20 closed. A T20 scores nothing, so choose an unfinished target instead. Finally, give yourself all seven targets closed but a points deficit. You still need to score on a target the opponent has open. The closing-versus-scoring guide explains that winning condition in detail.
Finish with the version you want to improve
No-score Cricket is a useful test of target closure, but it cannot test decisions about a points lead. Standard Cricket can. Cut-throat sends extra points to opponents with the target open and reverses the score objective, so do not carry the standard-Cricket examples across unchanged. Choose the version before the first visit and keep it for the game.
After the game, write down one target that was hard to close and one decision you would change. Use those two notes to choose the next session. For broader target coverage between Cricket games, try Around the Clock practice. Keep practice specific enough that you can explain what you learned from it.