The Follow-On Rule — Introduced into the Laws, 1835

Two-innings matches had been the standard of important cricket since the eighteenth century but were not always played out: weather, light and the casual nature of pre-railway fixtures meant many matches ended after one or two innings each. The growth of structured fixture lists in the 1820s and 1830s made tighter procedural rules necessary.

Before 1835 there was no codified follow-on. Two-innings matches simply proceeded in the order: A bats, B bats, A bats again, B bats again. With the increasing pace of professional fixtures, however, this had begun to produce farcical situations: the side that batted first might dismiss its opponents cheaply on the second day and then have to bat again itself, sometimes in conditions that had become very easy for batting. The 1835 revision added a rule that compelled the side trailing by 'a certain number of runs' (originally 100 in three-day matches, less in shorter games) to follow on — that is, to bat again immediately rather than have its opponent bat a second time. The follow-on was at first compulsory, with no choice for the leading captain. Captains and committees would later argue that the rule sometimes worked against the leading side (because pitches deteriorated and the side batting third would face the worst conditions), and the law was repeatedly amended. By the 1890s the threshold had been adjusted several times and the leading captain had been given discretion. The basic principle, however — that a side conceding a large first-innings lead must follow on — has remained an unbroken thread in cricket law since 1835.

The follow-on threshold was reduced to 80 runs, then 75, then 50 in shorter matches over the next half-century, and the leading captain's discretion was added. By the 1890s the rule had taken substantially its modern form. The most famous follow-on victories — Sydney 1894-95 and Headingley 1981 — depend on the captain's discretion that the original 1835 rule did not provide.