Martin 'Wolfie' Adams

The England darts captain on heavy metal, red roses and a spooky occurrence at a crematorium
Martin 'Wolfie' Adams
Martin 'Wolfie' Adams celebrates beating Daryl Gurney at the BDO 2010 World Championships. Photograph: Anthony Devlin/PA

Hello Martin, how's it going? Fine thanks, Small Talk, and you?

Tip-top, Martin, and thanks for asking. You know, there are people who will say we shouldn't even be talking to you because darts isn't a proper sport. What do you say to those people? I say come and play a darts marathon with me. See if you can cope with the strain on your legs, back and brain. Besides, sport is for enjoyment, it doesn't have to be exercise. Also, I look at football and it's horrible some of the things you see. Look at Thierry Henry for example, he cheated. If you have to resort to that sort of thing, you're cheating yourself as well as everyone else. I don't understand it, you don't get cheating in darts.

Really? There must be some way of cheating, or at least some underhand way of gaining an advantage. How about sledging, for example, is there much of that? There used to be a bit alright, but not so much any more. And it certainly never bothered me.

What's the worst thing any player has ever said to you in an effort to get under your skin? No one's ever got under my skin.

Have you ever come to blows with an opponent before, during or after a match? No.

Have you ever hit someone with a dart and pretended it was an accident? No, no, of course not.

Say, how much practice does a top dartist such as yourself have to do? It averages about one hour a day, but in the run-up to big tournaments you might do four or five.

Do you booze while practising? Maybe have a couple.

What is the optimal number of pints do quaff to achieve your best performance? It depends.

Five? Six? No, no, it wouldn't be that much.

Do you get a load of mates around to roar and carouse while you're practising to recreate the tournament atmosphere? No, I just listen to music.

What's the ideal music to play darts to? Oh, it could be anything. I like Dire Straits, Elvis, a bit of heavy metal.

Norwegian church-burners or spandex-clad LA hair-rockers? Stuff like Rainbow.

Ah yes, 'racing like a fireball, dancing like a ghost …' say, do you believe in ghosts? Not exactly. Though a very strange thing happened to me a couple of years ago.

Please go on … I was at a crematorium and I felt a tap on my right shoulder, turned around and there was no one near me.

Golly, sounds spooky. It was very spooky.

Was it around about midnight under a full moon? No, it was about 10 o'clock in the morning. It really was quite spooky.

Do you reckon there is life beyond earth? I think there has to be. All these UFO sightings and everything, they can't all be untrue. We can't be the only planet with life on it in the universe. You know, who knows what's in the universe? Is there a wall somewhere? And if there is, what's on the other side?

Your guess is as good as Small Talk's, Martin. By the way, your nickname is Wolfie. Have you ever eaten wolf? No, no, I don't think I'd want to.

What if you found yourself in an 'eat it or it will eat you' sort of situation? Well, if I had to kill it, I still don't think I'd eat it.

Wouldn't that be a waste? No, I think I'd give it a decent burial.

Fair enough, Martin. Now, back to the darts, what is your favourite double? I always say to that 'the ones I hit'. But 16s is good because it has the biggest break downs; it splits into 8s and 4s and then 2s and 1. And a lot of players like double top, that's got three breakdowns. 18 and 9, though, you have to waste a dart to get back on the doubles.

You're obviously handy at throwing and whatnot, have you ever applied that skill to other sports. Ever tried basketball, for example? No. We were banned from playing it in school after someone flung the ball at the games-master and knocked his front tooth out! Something similar happened with the rugby too.

We've just got time for one more question, Martin, so tell us, what's your favourite flower? Definitely a red rose. I got a beautiful Uncle Arthur deep red rose bush a few years ago but I don't know what happened to it and I haven't seen any like it around for ages.

That's a pity. If someone reads this and knows where to find one, perhaps they will get in touch. And with that hope, we must say farewell. Thanks for your time, Martin. Bye! Bye Small Talk.

Martin Adams is one of eight professional BDO Darts players that are mentoring the finalists of the John Smith's People's Darts, a nationwide amateur Darts tournament that see's the two grand finalists play on the Lakeside stage before the BDO World Professional Darts Championship final. The players will be competing for £15,000 for charity as well as a year's worth of John Smith's sponsorship for the winner to enter into BDO tournaments in 2010. For information on how to get involved in this year's tournament, please visit