Editing Follow-on (section)

{{Short description|Law in cricket}}
{{About|the cricket term|the hymn|Follow On (hymn)}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}In [[cricket]], a team who batted second and scored significantly fewer runs than the team who batted first may be forced to '''follow-on''': to take their second [[innings]] immediately after their first. The follow-on can be enforced by the team who batted first, and is intended to reduce the probability of a [[Result (cricket)#Draw|drawn]] result, by allowing the second team's second innings to be completed sooner and to avoid a team who were significantly better in their first innings from having to declare their second innings closed so they can attempt to win the match, giving the inferior team an undeserved advantage.
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="2" |Normal sequence
! colspan="2" |Follow-on sequence
|-
|style="background:#CEF2E0|1.
|style="background:#CEF2E0|Team A's first innings
|style="background:#CEF2E0|1.
|style="background:#CEF2E0|Team A's first innings
|-
|style="background:#CEE0F2|2.
|style="background:#CEE0F2|Team B's first innings
|style="background:#CEE0F2|2.
|style="background:#CEE0F2|Team B's first innings
|-
|style="background:#CEF2E0|3.
|style="background:#CEF2E0|Team A's second innings
|style="background:#CEE0F2|3.
|style="background:#CEE0F2|Team B's second innings
|-
|style="background:#CEE0F2|4.
|style="background:#CEE0F2|Team B's second innings (if required)
|style="background:#CEF2E0|4.
|style="background:#CEF2E0|Team A's second innings (if required)
|}
The follow-on occurs only in those [[forms of cricket]] where each team normally bats twice: notably in domestic [[First-class cricket|first class]] cricket and international [[Test cricket|Test]] cricket. In these forms of cricket, a team cannot [[Result (cricket)#Win and loss|win]] a match unless at least three innings have been completed. If fewer than three innings are completed by the scheduled end of play, the result of the match can only be a draw.

The decision to enforce the follow-on is made by the [[Captain (cricket)|captain]] of the team who batted first, who considers the score, the apparent strength of the two sides, the conditions of weather and the [[Cricket pitch|pitch]], and the [[Playing time (cricket)|time remaining]].

The rules governing the circumstances in which the follow-on may be enforced are found in Law 14 of the Laws of Cricket.