Betfair Official Blog

Expect Part to be hit by a van in the Premier League tonight

Click here to view market

David Croft has been thinking about an anti-climactic second year in the PDC for former postman Raymond van Barneveld. Can he deliver against Canadian John Part tonight?

It was back on January 1st 2007 that Raymond van Barneveld capped off a stellar year in the PDC by becoming their world champion at his first attempt. The former postman from Holland had delivered all expectations following his much publicised and often criticised switch from the BDO by rising to the rank of world number 1 in the space of 12 months. Life was sweet for Barney, very sweet.

12 months on and Barney's defence of that world title came to an end in the grand arena of Alexandra Palace as Kevin Painter brushed him aside in the third round. Facing the reporters afterwards, Barney declared that under no circumstances would he be playing in the Premier League this year. Something had to give and, fed up with the constant travelling, it was the Premier League that would be making way.

Of course that's not how it turned out, Barney was never going to miss out on the guaranteed income that a place in the elite 8 brings but he did re-arrange his schedule for this year and it hasn't been a total benefit. After spending last year playing non-stop in both the Premier League, the majors and the ranking events, he rightly needed to cut down, so out went the Pro Tour ranking tournaments and in came the inconsistency.

It was an obvious decision to make given that, unlike his peers in the UK, Barney was facing a hefty amount of travelling time. But the thing about the ranking events is that they keep you sharp for the big ones. They provide the day-to-day match practice and tournament sharpness that was the secret to a lot of his success in his first year in the PDC. Travelling far and wide kept Barney on top form: picking and choosing, on recent evidence, isn't working out as well as it should.

I was discussing the form of the five-time world champion with my friend Richard Ashdown the other day. Richard for those who haven't come across him is the ultimate all singing, all dancing, all refereeing Darts reference point, as well as being a bloody nice chap as well. He sits in the BBC commentary box during the world championships working as our spotter, the guide to commentators and cameramen alike and will depart Darting wisdom at great length throughout the night. Which reminds me; if any company would like to make a darting anorak, look no further than Richard for your model and best customer, the boy's a genius quite frankly.

But back to Barneveld, and we were both in agreement that the Dutchman could still reach the last four of the Premier League at a canter so in a way was decent value with Betfair at [5.1] to win the title. Chances are that the four semi finalists will all be closely matched, so you might as well seek out the value, Phil Taylor may have found some good form now he's settled on his second set of new darts, but at [1.91] he's hard to back.

It wouldn't take much for Barney to rediscover his form and as for this weeks Premier League may well find himself back to winning ways. His opponent, John Part, suffers from the fatigue of travelling only this time he's flying across the Atlantic. Unless he's stayed in the UK since beating Peter Manley last week, I'm expecting an outcome similar to when the two players met in Plymouth, the 8-4 win by Barney is available at [8.0] on Betfair. Barney outright is a [1.62] chance and eventually he will find the right balance. On his day the Dutchman is deadly and if he's looking for a little motivation he should remember how many times he's beaten Phil Taylor in this competition, the answer is none, yet!