An Oasis of talent

Sid Waddell previews the new Premier League Darts season and reveals how Oasis may help Phil Taylor.

Premier League Darts returns to our screens on Thursday as eight of the sport's biggest names prepare to go head-to-head in a weekly showdown. Sky Sports commentator Sid Waddell will be behind the microphone to bring you another season of top tungsten tossing and will share his thoughts with you every week, right here on skysports.com. This week Sid, whose autobiography has just been nominated for Sports Book of the Year, looks ahead to the biggest season yet in the Premier League and brings you the low-down on the eight competitors bidding for the £100,000 first prize From debutant James Wade to three-time champion Phil Taylor, Sid brings you all need to know on this year's runners and riders. And don't forget to tune in to the first Premier League darts event of the season, live from Glasgow, this Thursday on Sky Sports 1. Sid on Phil Taylor
Sid on Raymond van Barneveld
Sid on John Part
Sid on Wayne Mardle
Sid on Peter Manley
Sid on Terry Jenkins
Sid on Adrian Lewis
Sid on James Wade

PHIL TAYLOR

We have always seen Phil Taylor's fantastic qualities in the Premier League and he has set an incredible standard that the others are sometimes not able to match. He has never lost a game in 44 Premier League outings, but the question is can Taylor come out early doors with the same murderous attitude that he has had in previous years? He has a technique problem at the moment because he is not landing his first dart near enough to the bottom of the 60 - or just below it - to stack the darts on it. Knowing him, he will have been practising for six hours a day to get that right and the only hope for his opponents is that he has been trying a bit too hard for the last four weeks after getting knocked out of the World Championships. He likes to try to whitewash his opponents and his rivals know they have to match what he does in his first three legs. If the likes of Raymond van Barneveld or Adrian Lewis can start with a 107 average in the first few legs, then he might not be able to come back at players like he did so famously against Barney in Sheffield last year. I fear his self-belief has been dented since then. But if he is at his best he takes you apart in the first few legs and some players can't get over that. Last year, people were talking about Taylor being on the wane, but his statistics were incredible. He warmed up with a couple of 95 averages in the first three weeks, but then he went mad and had nine wins with 100+ averages, including one of 107.3 in an 8-1 triumph against Terry Jenkins. This year it will be fascinating to watch Taylor's first 40 darts because if he is averaging around 110 then everybody will have to look out. But there is a possibility he might be a little bit stale due to over-practice. He went to see a psychologist a couple of weeks ago and was told if he needs to relax he should listen to Frank Sinatra, but if he wants to get psyched up he should listen to Oasis. And I reckon darts fans are going to get a Tungsten Supernova here on Sky Sports!

RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD

The man who started best last year, Barney averaged 96 in his first three outings and then averaged 107.4 against Terry Jenkins in a 7-7 draw, which is quite amazing. Barney is capable of that sort of form, and actually started the season better than Taylor. We thought he might get even better as the weeks went by, but for some reason he went to pieces in week seven when he lost 8-4 to Dennis Priestley. He went wildly adrift on that night with a miserable 86 average and blamed it on the atmosphere. He did not enjoy it in Blackpool, possibly because it was such a big stage. So while Taylor's main problems are physical and technical, the problems Barney has are psychological and the fact he fell apart last year after such an amazing start is indicative of that. But despite that, he rallied and got revenge against Priestley in week 12, before losing a very tight semi-final to Jenkins. I would say Barney is the only man capable of starting better than Taylor, but the question is can he do that with the psychological problems he has? He needs more self-belief. But of course, if we see a rush of blood from him or Taylor then we could see nine-darters and all sorts!

JOHN PART

The world champion started off better than anybody at Ally Pally with a 99 average and kept it going to take the title. John Part is the best closer in the game. He is a big fan baseball, like I am, and I would compare him to a baseball "closer" - somebody who pitches the last innings if his team is 1-0 up. If the score is 7-6 - either to Part or against him - I would put my money on Part taking the last set to secure the win or the draw, even against Barney or Taylor. He is the master of winning tight matches. He is also one of the greatest counters in the history of darts, second only to Eric Bristow, so he never hesitates and he is probably the most consistent player in this field. He had a fairly modest season in 2005 when he was flying to and from Canada and he looked tired at times. He beat Wayne Mardle 9-3 in week three, but from week six he had six consecutive losses and finished sixth in the table. But with the form he is in now, he will not finish sixth. His has more self-confidence than Barney or Taylor and he knows nerves will not effect his technique. He won't have the brilliant matches that we'll get from Taylor or Barney, but he is the most solid man in the field.

WAYNE MARDLE

Mardle is a great entertainer, but his win over Phil Taylor at the world championship showed he can control his emotions in front of a massive crowd. There were 600 people wearing Hawaiian shorts that day, but there will be more than that at times in the Premier League - there will be 3,600 of them in Glasgow alone! He has control of his temperament now, but he also has technical control. When he gets tense, he lines the dart up wrong and it goes left of the 60 into the five. He has cracked that problem and hopefully has got over his big failure from previous seasons. In 2005 he started with four losses, including an 11-1 hammering by Taylor, and I don't think he ever got over that. The year after that was even worse for him. He averaged 95 in his first outings, but he was hammered 8-2 by Taylor in week four and it took him until week nine to get his first win. I think that Wayne has had two disastrous starts that have affected his confidence, but from what I saw at the World Championships that will not be a problem on his return to the Premier League. The win over Taylor could turn out to be the piece of red Kryptonite that turns him into a real darts Superman. He will do very well, considering the two favourites (Taylor and Barney) have got serious problems with their games.

PETER MANLEY

This is pantomime season, so let's talk about the Demon King! Peter Manley is the fattest man with the thinnest smile and he is the man darts fans love to hate. He is also the master of the shoot-out and is pure show business, which is fine by me. I think the Premier League is the new exhibition darts and the best players in the world will do crazy things because they have to. I would say Manley is the best exhibition player I have seen since Cliff Lazarenko. He has some rollercoaster rides in his matches and it is usually very close when he plays. In 2005, he got to the semi-final despite never having a big win. He would pip people for the victory because he is totally fearless. It was the same story in 2006 when he would squeak through in games. He had an 8-1 hammering by Taylor and an 8-3 victory over Mardle, but those were the exceptions. Last year, he had two fantastic draws with Van Barneveld, I'd say he is the world's great survivor. If you look at his scoring last year, his best average was 97, ironically when he lost 8-1 to Taylor, so he needs to work on that. But he is a great entertainer and the crowd love to boo him in between throws and he plays up to that. He really boosts the entertainment factor because he is involved in so many one-leg wins and that is what we want to see.

TERRY JENKINS

The greatest compliment my colleague Rod Harrington ever dishes out about a player is the word 'solid' and Terry Jenkins has been Mr Solid. Last year he was beaten 16-6 in the final by Taylor when some players might have been murdered and he also showed great character to beat Barney 11-10 in the semi-final. In each case his average was only around 90, so he needs to push that up if he is to go one better this year. He was whitewashed 8-0 by Colin Lloyd at Ally Pally, but he is capable of grinding out results. Barney threw a 107.4 average against him last year and Jenkins still got a 7-7 draw. He rarely had big wins last year and although he beat Adrian Lewis 8-1, most of his victories were 8-6 or 8-5. But to live with this kind of company he is going to have to average 97-98 more consistently. Far too often he averages around 90 in the Premier League and that just won't do. When he's on form he is getting 130 or 140 shut-outs, but he has got to improve his averages and make sure he gets more three-dart finishes.

ADRIAN LEWIS

Adrian has consolidated his reputation as a potential world champion with everything he has done in the past year. In week three of the 2007 season, he beat Lloyd 8-5 with a 98 average, but then he lost six matches on the trot, including an 8-1 thrashing by Jenkins, so he never really got over that. He is a brilliant starter of matches and you often see him go 3-0 up with an average of 108 in other tournaments, but he couldn't bring that to the Premier League. He is arguably the most gifted player in the game, but his big problem is consistency. His best performance last year was an 8-4 win over Manley in week two and he averaged more than 100 on three occasions in his last five matches. But it was too late by then. His record is very similar to Mardle in the Premier League in that neither of them have shown their true form until the end of the season when it was too late. Adrian is famed for his blind 180 when he throws the first two darts and then looks at his opponent for the third one - which often goes in. Going back to my point that the Premier League is the new exhibition darts, I'd say Lewis is the best Box Office player in the world.

JAMES WADE

I think James Wade has the potential to be world champion, but unfortunately he didn't bring his game to Ally Pally last month. He is a phenomenal starter of a match and won in Blackpool last year by blowing his opponents away with averages up to 115. This is his first year in the Premier League, but I think he has the right temperament and will fare much better than Adrian Lewis. He could even turn out to be the overall star of the season. He has already won in Gibraltar this year, is ranked number three in the world on the Order of Merit and last year he did three nine-darters in non-televised events. He won nine non-televised tournaments as well as two of the big telly ones - the Matchplay and the World Grand Prix. Sometimes he is almost over-confident. He gets a good feeling on the practice board, but when he gets on stage, he looks perplexed if the darts don't land where he intends. But I like his attitude, he has incredible powers of concentration and I think he is a dark horse to take the title. He has just bought a 50-grand car, but if he wins this I imagine he'll buy a 75-grand car so he can ride around Aldershot in it and show off!