The follow-on is one of Test cricket's most dramatic decisions. If the side batting first builds a big enough lead after both first innings, its captain can send the opposition straight back in to bat again. This calculator applies Law 14 of the MCC Laws of Cricket: enter the match length and both first-innings totals to see the lead, whether the follow-on can be enforced, and the score the second team needs to avoid it.
How to use the follow-on calculator
- Choose the match length. Tests are five days, so the required lead is 200.
- Enter the first-innings total of the team that batted first.
- Enter the first-innings total of the team that batted second. During a live innings, enter the current score to see how many more runs are needed.
- Read the lead, whether the follow-on is available and the score needed to avoid it.
The follow-on rule (Law 14)
In a two-innings match, the side that bats first and leads by at least the following margin may require the other side to follow on:
- 200 runs in a match of five days or more
- 150 runs in a match of three or four days
- 100 runs in a two-day match
- 75 runs in a one-day match
If no play takes place on the first day, the required lead is decided by the number of days remaining from the start of the first day on which play actually takes place. So a five-day Test that loses all of day one is treated as a four-day match, and the lead needed drops to 150.
The formula for avoiding the follow-on
Score needed to avoid follow-on = Team 1 total − Required lead + 1
The lead must be at least the required margin to enforce. So in a Test, if the first team makes 445, a second-team total of 245 gives a lead of exactly 200 and the follow-on is available. One more run, 246, leaves a lead of 199 and the follow-on is avoided.
Real match example
Kolkata 2001 – the follow-on that backfired
- Australia 1st innings
- 445
- India 1st innings
- 171 (lead 274, follow-on enforced)
- India 2nd innings
- 657/7 declared
- Result
- India won by 171 runs
VVS Laxman (281) and Rahul Dravid (180) batted through a whole day together, and Harbhajan Singh's bowling did the rest. Australia's run of 16 consecutive Test wins ended.
Real match example
Wellington 2023 – won by one run after following on
- England 1st innings
- 435/8 declared
- New Zealand 1st innings
- 209 (lead 226, follow-on enforced)
- New Zealand 2nd innings
- 483
- Result
- England 256 all out, New Zealand won by 1 run
Only the fourth time a Test team had won after following on, and the second time by a margin of one run in Test history.
The first two teams to win after following on were both England against Australia: at Sydney in 1894 and at Headingley in 1981, when Ian Botham's 149 not out and Bob Willis's 8 for 43 turned the match.
Should a captain enforce the follow-on?
Enforcing is always optional. In favour: the batting side is under pressure, and the bowling side can push for victory with plenty of time left. Against: the bowlers have to bowl again immediately, often after more than 100 overs in the field, and the pitch may be at its best for batting. Many modern captains prefer to bat again and set a target, especially in hot conditions or with a short bowling attack.
Common mistakes
- Using a lead of "more than" 200. The Law says "at least". A lead of exactly 200 is enough.
- Forgetting lost days. If day one is washed out, use the number of days left.
- Applying it to limited-overs cricket. The follow-on exists only in two-innings matches.
- Special events. Some events, such as the World Test Championship final with its reserve day, set their own playing conditions, so check those for the exact lead required.
Read the full wording of the Law on the MCC Laws of Cricket – Law 14 page, and follow live Tests on CricketSky's live scores page.
