Luke Humphries follows Luke Littler in hitting back at former World Darts champion after ‘let country down' jibe

LUKE HUMPHRIES has followed the lead of Luke Littler and hit back at Dennis Priestley's explosive claims that the pair 'let their country down' following an early World Cup exit.
Two-time world champion Priestley, 74, slammed world No.1 Humphries and reigning world champion Littler for losing in the second round to hosts Germany last weekend.
2
2
It was their first appearance together in the team format but disappointingly the pair were beaten 8-4 by Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko amid a cacophony of boos from the Frankfurt crowd.
The English duo were red-hot favourites to claim the title heading into the event.
But Wales star Gerwyn Price said that the two Lukes did not arrive together nor spend enough time in each other's company – and essentially failed to gel behind the scenes.
That shock defeat came the day after it was announced the two Englishman – the top two on the world rankings – were going to receive recognition in the King's Birthday Honours List.
Straight-talking Yorkshireman Priestley also said in his chat with bookmakers OLBG that neither player had 'done enough to earn their MBEs just yet'.
Cool Hand Luke, 30, lifted the World Cup crown with Michael Smith in 2024 and has vowed to return next year with The Nuke by his side.
The former world champion said on his social media account: 'Disappointing to hear a top former pro who I admired say such a damaging thing to me and Luke.
'I didn't let my country down last year though, did I?
JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUS
'One bad game for us and we will back next year to go again. Let's move on now.'
On Thursday, Littler screenshotted an article that contained the quotes and captioned it up as saying: 'Don't deserve an MBE but done more in 12 months than he ever did …
Being made an MBE shows I've helped 'change face of darts' says Luke Humphries
'That's what I would say anyway.'
That message was later deleted off his Instagram Stories.
Littler is the most recognisable figure in the sport and his Instagram account mushroomed to 1.9 million followers shortly after he burst on to the scene in December 2023.
His next appearance on the oche will be at the bet365 US Darts Masters, which will be held on June 27-28 at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Times

an hour ago

• Times

England vs India live: scores and updates from day 2

Brydon Carse will open the bowling, with Shubman Gill on strike. It's a short ball, which Gill pulls for a single. Before we get under way, watch all the highlights from day one below. Simon Wilde, at Headingley Stokes has put the opposition into bat more times in Test cricket than any other England captain in history. This is the 11th time he has done so (out of 19 won tosses): nine times in England and twice in New Zealand last winter. In those games, he had seen the other side rack up healthy scores in the first innings — 553 by New Zealand at Trent Bridge in 2022, 416 by India at Edgbaston the same year, and 348 by New Zealand at Christchurch last November. Yet England won each of those games. At Headingley however, Stokes's error was probably in asking a lot of his bowlers in difficult conditions on the opening day of the series when many of them have had little recent red-ball cricket. Read Simon's piece in full here. There is still a long way to go, but any England fan who has resigned themselves to defeat (we know who you are) there is still plenty of hope. The two teams have clashed 136 times since 1932 and England have won 51 of them. In fact there have been more draws (50) than India wins (35) in Tests between the two. This still gives England the edge with a 59.3 per cent win percentage versus India's 40.7 per cent in these contests. Mike Atherton, at Headingley Jaiswal battled an early blow to the ribs from Brydon Carse and a bad attack of cramp to his right hand and forearm just before tea to register his fifth Test hundred and his third against England in only six matches. At 23 years old, he is one of the most exciting young players of the moment and looks driven to make the most of his talent, as those who have known deprivation tend to be. He made more than 700 runs in the 2024 series, including double hundreds in Visakhapatnam and Rajkot, but the way he celebrated his hundred here, swinging his helmet above his head and roaring his delight, showed how much a hundred in English conditions meant to him. All batsmen are judged by their performances in the round and Jaiswal now has hundreds in the Caribbean, Australia and England, as well as at home. Simon Wilde, at Headingley Chris Woakes came late to the Bazball era. When he was finally introduced by Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum for a must-win Test against Australia at Headingley in 2023, he was the 24th player they had chosen and the eighth seamer. They hardly rushed to embrace his talents, perhaps sharing a suspicion held by many that he was done as a red-ball player after the West Indies tour the previous year that brought down the curtain on Joe Root's reign. Two years on Woakes is central to their thinking and has been for much of the time since he hit the winning runs in Leeds to seal a nerve-jangling Ashes win and finished that summer as man of the series. He has featured in only one of eight Tests in Asia since, was rested in Hamilton and still recovering from an ankle injury at the time of the recent Zimbabwe Test, but has otherwise played every game. Since Jimmy Anderson retired in July last year, he has served as England's attack leader of choice. ● Read in full: Chris Woakes is James Anderson without aura but is just as important Steve James, at Headingley We have seen Yashasvi Jaiswal struggling with cramp before, but that was hardly unexpected when flaying runs for fun in India's heat last year, so to see him battling with the horrible spasms in his right forearm, causing one or two of his fingers to curl up and be difficult to prise back into their usual positions, was surprising, even if these are unusually canicular days right now. But Jaiswal had clearly earned the right to suffer, gripping tightly on to his bat with that top (right) hand as he navigated his way so elegantly and easily through his first Test innings in England to make a splendid century. Yes, maybe the stoppages while he received attention were too long and too frequent (although they did allow the always mischievous Harry Brook to shadow-bat gleefully with his bat) and maybe his stamina could still do with a little attention — there are those who say that the 23-year-old is still catching up in that regard after his tough, well-chronicled upbringing in leaving his home, a village in Uttar Pradesh, at the age of ten to live in a tent on the Azad Maidan in Mumbai — but this was some statement on another foreign shore by the lavishly talented left-hander after Test centuries in Australia and the West Indies. ● Read more: Yashasvi Jaiswal defies cramp for India to justify hype and hoopla Elizabeth Ammon, at Headingley Good morning from Headingley where it's already very warm and sunny. Predicted to be hot and stuffy but there may perhaps be a couple of thunderstorms this afternoon. India are already in the nets and the England team strength and conditioning coach is laying out some yoga mats on the outfield and they've just started letting spectators into the ground. England will be really hoping for some early inroads or they are staring down the barrel of India piling on 550 or more. Headingley historically favours seam early but can flatten out — barometer expert Stuart Broad has voiced concern that England may struggle to claim 20 wickets if their bowlers miss consistency. Expect England to lean on Bashir in the afternoon session as any pitch deterioration could offer a spin challenge. ● Read more: Broad: England worry me — how will they take 20 wickets against India? Mike Atherton, at Headingley Before this Test, the talk was of India's absent stars. No Virat Kohli, no Rohit Sharma. No problem, as it turned out. On a warm Headingley day, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill demanded that our attention switch to the present and the future, rather than the past, with dominant hundreds after India were sent in by Ben Stokes, on a chastening day for England. The decision to bowl first was prompted by statistics that show the past six Tests have been won by the side doing so, and because recent evidence suggests the Headingley pitch does not deteriorate as before, but be that as it may England's bowlers were a long way short of their best. Gill, too, would have bowled first, but after feasting on a diet of inconsistent seam bowling, now has a chance to control the game. ● Read more: India's new generation feast on England's inconsistent bowlers Ben Stokes has signalled a change in England's Bazball approach to Test cricket, admitting that his team's main purpose is not to entertain but to win matches. Stokes has led the transformation of England's Test side alongside head coach Brendon McCullum since he was appointed captain three years ago, playing an exciting brand of cricket and previously stating: 'We're in the entertainment business.' ●Read in full: Stokes: It's no longer just about entertainment, it's about winning A reminder of the teams taking to the field today, and the series details. England 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Jamie Smith (wk), 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Brydon Carse, 10 Josh Tongue, 11 Shoaib Bashir India 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 KL Rahul, 3 B Sai Sudharsan, 4 Shubman Gill (capt), 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Karun Nair, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Prasidh Krishna, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Mohammed Siraj Morning. How are we? Warm? Thought so. Unlike England's bowling on day one, which was pretty cold. It was the India batsmen who brought the heat, and that is why they are in a pretty fine position as we begin day two. We will have every cough, scratch and swing worth worrying about with updates from Elizabeth Ammon among others throughout the day. This should be a good one.

The Independent

an hour ago

• The Independent

Chelsea's Jackson given red card just minutes after coming off the bench

Nicolas Jackson apologized after receiving a straight red card during chelsea 's 3-1 Club World Cup defeat to Flamengo. Jackson was dismissed just four minutes after coming off the bench for a studs-up challenge on Ayrton Lucas. This was Jackson 's second red card in only four appearances, having also been sent off in a Premier League match last month. The sending-off occurred during a calamitous six-minute spell where chelsea conceded two goals, effectively ending their hopes in the game. Jackson expressed deep regret on Instagram, taking full responsibility for the incident and vowing to learn and come back stronger.

Telegraph

an hour ago

• Telegraph

Live England vs India: Score and latest updates from first Test, day two at Headingley

10:00AM Can England fight back on day two? It is advantage India after day one of the series as they ended the first day at Headingley on 359/3. Centuries from Yashasvi Jaiswal and new captain Shubman Gil led India to a dominant day despite being put into bat by Ben Stokes. It was a chastening day for England in the field having won the toss and opted to bowl first. Stokes' decision at the toss was a talking point after the first day's play, with former England captain Michael Vaughan particularly critical of that call. 'Within the first hour it was a good pitch, so it is not easy to restrict runs,' Vaughan said on Test Match Special. 'Ben Stokes is still positive and he will come back tomorrow [today] saying let's get seven wickets. 'I am an old-school traditionalist here at Leeds that when the sun is shining, with dry weather, you bat. I was staggered when he said he was going to bowl. Traditions are out the window. You always have to pick your decisions on that moment, and not things that you did here years ago. It cannot affect what the decision is today [yesterday]. 'You look at the England side and their strength is in the batting. And there is inexperience in the bowling. Ben clearly had a gut feeling, and sometimes it has worked. We always say that on this surface, it is flat. But we will not know that for sure until we see Jasprit Bumrah bowl.' In the last nine home Tests England have won the toss, they have batted first once and won six of those matches. The last six Test matches on this ground have been won by the team bowling first. Jaiswal's incredible record against England continued yesterday; it was his fifth Test century and third against England. In the last series played between these sides in India in 2024, Jaiswal scored a mammoth 712 runs. Speaking after the first day's play, Jaiswal expressed his delight at his performance and spoke of the importance of their preparation for this series. 'It was very, very good and we all did well today. It was amazing to go out and bat, enjoy the English summer as well so we are very happy. I just try to be myself and go out there and enjoy the game. That is what I do all the time. We had very good practice sessions and matches for a few weeks. We were trying to make it as simple as possible. If there is a loose ball I try to go for it. I was just thinking to focus on my process because I have worked very hard in my preparation. I was just trying in myself and have that desire to do well. I really enjoyed it.' Gill has taken over the Test captaincy from Rohit Sharma and yesterday marked his first Test ton outside of Asia. Day two gets under way at 11am BST.