Who should be in the Premier League Darts 2023 line-up? Paul Nicholson assess the contenders vying to join Michael van Gerwen, Peter Wright, Gerwyn Price and Michael Smith

Former major winner, pundit and Sporting Life columnist Paul Nicholson shares his views on the most deserving players and ponders whether there might even be a format change to allow more than eight in the tournament.

Guaranteed places

There's been so much talk about which eight players will make the Premier League line-up and it's not an easy puzzle to solve due to the amount of contenders who keep impressing us.

MICHAEL VAN GERWEN, PETER WRIGHT, GERWYN PRICE and MICHAEL SMITH are all obviously locked in for Premier League spots as the top four in the world and for me I feel LUKE HUMPHRIES will also be there given the amount of titles he's won in 2022.

Even though none of those were majors, he thoroughly deserves his place for the way he's shot up the rankings to number five and I feel he has enough experience in the bank to be ready for a crack at it.

On the brink?

Beyond these five, there are lots of choices and plenty of players who may think they've done enough. The fact is, some of them haven't. It's going to be one of those heartbreaking years like it was for me back in 2011 when I was ranked number nine in the world and had also won a Players Championship Finals title - but still didn't get in. Mark Webster also thought he was close that year but he too missed out as Andy Hamilton and Kevin Painter pipped us at the post.

Jonny Clayton must be very close having topped the 2022 regular season as well as Joe Cullen for being runner-up in a debut year which also saw him win the Masters while Nathan Aspinall reached two major finals at the Grand Slam of Darts and the World Grand Prix. However, neither are dead certs to be included as things stand at the point of writing (December 31, 2022).

Ross Smith and Danny Noppert won the European Championship and UK Open respectively but I don't think either will be in and that would mean they join a unique list of players who miss out despite winning major titles. The others being me and Rob Cross, who missed out this year despite winning the 2021 European Championship. As for Cross, he's highly unlikely to be in despite another strong season so who will it be?

The PDC board and Sky Sports will need to decide what they feel is right for 2023 but for me Clayton, Aspinall, Cullen have probably done enough - but don't rule out Dirk van Duijvenbode's chances.

Too early for Rock?

As for Josh Rock, there's two ways of looking at it. On one hand it would definitely shake things up to have the world youth champion but that runs the risk of setting a dangerous precedent for the future.

Although he has incredible talent and the wow factor, I personally wouldn't put him in because we need to see how he develops in his second season on the tour.

At the moment there are lots more players in front of him in the queue and he's not yet a top 16 player with plenty more steps to climb such as titles on stage and on TV. I think even he would admit the Premier League is perhaps a bit too soon despite his highly impressive averages and form.

There are plenty who will disagree with me though.

Format changes?

I wouldn't actually be surprised if there's a late change in format to make room for more than eight players because there did of course used to be 10 in the line-up. Even if they made it 12, I wouldn't be shocked.

There have been suggestions on social media of a 'two conference' Premier League system with each division of eight playing on alternate Thursdays.

This would not only allow more players to be involved but also give them more rest in what's already a very hectic season for those involved in the tournament.

The big problem with this idea, however, is that ticket holders might not get to see their favourite players. Imagine you are a huge Michael van Gerwen fan living in Belfast and have a ticket but his division isn't in action that week.

If you split the top guys up equally across both divisions then you won't see Michael van Gerwen v Gerwyn Price, for example, until the play-off night.

I think you have to keep it to one division of the elite. If you go to two divisions then the format has to be much shorter and you have both of them on the same night.

It's an elite event and I can't see the PDC or Sky Sports making radical changes like that - or even a team/franchise system like John Part once suggested.

If there is to be a monstrous shake-up in future, I'd love to be part of the ideas panel but for now, whoever gets picked, we're guaranteed a lot of excitement from the best players in the world.

ALSO READ: PAUL NICHOLSON'S MOMENTS, MATCHES AND PLAYERS OF 2022

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