Cricket Follow-On Calculator

How to use the cricket follow-on calculator

What this calculator does

This calculator checks the first-innings position in a two-innings cricket match. It compares the side batting first with the side batting second, determines the effective match duration, applies the corresponding minimum lead, and reports whether the captain of Team 1 has the legal option to require Team 2 to bat again immediately. It is a rules calculator, not a prediction model: it does not estimate the chance of winning, account for pitch deterioration, judge bowler fatigue, or recommend the captain's tactical choice.

When to use it

Use it while following a Test or first-class match, when preparing a scorecard explanation, when checking how a completely lost first day changes the minimum lead, or when teaching the distinction between reaching the threshold line and moving strictly below it. The governing rule is set out in MCC Law 14 on the follow-on.

How to calculate

The calculator opens with a complete demonstration: a five-day match that started on Day 1, Team 1 on 473, and Team 2 on 237. The results and a verified example Excel workbook are available immediately.

1. Choose Play started on scheduled Day 1? Select “No” only when no play at all occurred on the first scheduled day.
2. Set Scheduled match length to the original one-, two-, three-, four-, or five-day duration.
3. Enter Team batting first – first-innings runs as a non-negative whole number.
4. Enter Team batting second – first-innings runs after that innings is complete. The result updates automatically.
5. Read the decision, lead, legal threshold, score lines, and detail table. Select Download Excel to export the current validated state.

Reset clears both run totals, removes calculated content, and disables the workbook until a complete valid scorecard is entered again. It retains neutral match settings so the calculator is ready for a new case.

Input guide

• Play started on scheduled Day 1? is required and accepts Yes or No. Choose No only if the entire first day was lost; a late start after play has begun still counts as play. MCC links this test to the start of the first over, explained in Law 17.2 on when an over starts. Changing Yes to No reduces the effective duration by one day for a match longer than one day. A common mistake is selecting No merely because the day contained rain interruptions.
• Scheduled match length is required and accepts a whole-day option from 1 through 5. A Test example is 5 days; many first-class matches are 3 or 4 days. The calculator uses 200 runs for 5 days, 150 for 3 or 4 days, 100 for 2 days, and 75 for 1 day. Do not enter days remaining manually; the Day 1 control performs the specific lost-first-day adjustment.
• Team batting first – first-innings runs is required. Enter a whole number from 0 to 1,000,000, such as 473. Commas are accepted only as standard thousands separators. A higher Team 1 score increases the lead and raises both score lines. Do not enter wickets, declarations, slashes, or innings notation such as 473/9.
• Team batting second – first-innings runs is required and uses the same whole-number format, for example 237. A higher value reduces the lead and the number of additional runs needed to cross the threshold. Enter the completed innings total, not the current live score during an unfinished innings.

Output guide

Follow-on option available is the primary rules decision. It appears when the First-innings lead is at least the Applicable minimum lead. The Match basis, Lead, Required, and Decision pills summarize those same canonical values. Effective match days shows the duration after the lost-first-day adjustment. Lead margin compared with the minimum is positive when the rule is met and negative when Team 1 is short. Captain may enforce emphasizes that eligibility creates an option, not an automatic innings order.

Threshold score line equals Team 1's score minus the applicable minimum lead. At that exact Team 2 score, the lead equals the threshold. First score below threshold is one run higher and is the first score that leaves a lead smaller than the legal minimum. Runs to threshold line and Runs to move below threshold measure the additional Team 2 runs needed from the current total. Zero means the stated line has already been reached. The Decision detail table repeats the source scores and rule checkpoints for auditability.

Worked example

With play starting on Day 1 in a five-day match, the minimum lead is 200. Team 1 scores 473 and Team 2 scores 237, so the lead is 473 – 237 = 236 runs. Because 236 is at least 200, the follow-on option is available. The threshold score line is 473 – 200 = 273. Team 2 is 36 runs short of that line, while 274 is the first score that would reduce the lead to 199; therefore Team 2 needs 37 additional runs to move below the threshold. These numbers match the first-open screen and the downloadable workbook.