When it comes to discussing the greatest darts player of all time, Phil Taylor is firmly at the top of the list in the eyes of most.
The man who won a staggering 16 world titles won everything the game has to offer – but will he ever lose his greatest-ever mantle?
Rob Cross stopped Taylor from claiming a 17th world title when he beat him in 2018 at the Alexandra Palace and he’s now been quizzed.
Taylor won a whopping 85 major titles during his career and Cross has been asked whether he will ever lose his greatest ever tag.
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Rob Cross predicts whether anyone will topple Phil Taylor as the greatest ever
Taylor has now retired from the game with the exception of the odd exhibition here and there.
The player called time on his career after losing to Cross in the 2018 World Championship final – failing to add one more to his total.
Cross doesn’t think he will ever lose his tag as greatest ever though given how much he dominated the game in his prime.
The world number five told Sportslens: “I don’t know, Phil won so much didn’t he and he was so dominant.
“We’re not just talking about dominance for 10 years, it was probably 20!
“I don’t think the big guy will ever get toppled.
“Some of his averages and tournament averages. I think he played the European Masters one year and he had a tournament average of 112.
“Most people want to hit that in one game, let alone through five or six! He was just amazing and I don’t think that will ever get beaten.”
Phil Taylor is the greatest ever but context is required
It’s hard to overlook Taylor as the best player to ever stand at the oche and throw a dart.
However, when he was in his prime there were fewer tournaments and crucially not as many top players.
That’s not being disrespectful but now there is an argument that the top players can all beat each other on any given day.
The finals of the major tournaments tend to change from one even to the next and there isn’t anyone dominating these days.
What Barry Hearn has done for the game has been magnificent and with the tour going from strength to strength the standard has increased ten-fold.
Still, it’s hard to knock what Taylor achieved and it’s hard to see him losing his stranglehold on the greatest-ever tag any time soon.