Loading
We use essential cookies, plus analytics and advertising cookies with your permission. Privacy
Whether the side batting first has a large enough first-innings lead to enforce the follow-on. The threshold depends on the scheduled length of the match, not on the format name.
After any washed-out days
Lead of 236 · 5 days or more · 200 required
The follow-on can be enforced
The captain may enforce it, but is not obliged to.
Under the Laws of Cricket the lead required to enforce the follow-on is set by the match’s scheduled duration:
| Scheduled length | Lead required |
|---|---|
| 5 days or more (Test) | 200 runs |
| 3 or 4 days (first-class) | 150 runs |
| 2 days | 100 runs |
| 1 day | 75 runs |
Lead
first innings total − opposition first innings total
Lost days reduce the threshold. If play is entirely lost on the first day of a five-day match, the match is treated as a four-day match and the requirement drops from 200 to 150. The calculator asks for days of play actually available rather than the scheduled length for this reason.
Enforcing is optional. Meeting the threshold gives the captain the right to enforce the follow-on, not an obligation. Captains frequently decline it to rest bowlers or to avoid batting last on a deteriorating pitch.