India vs Australia
11-15 March 2001
Several contentious LBW decisions went both ways during India's historic follow-on victory against Australia in Kolkata 2001, one of the greatest Tests ever played.
England, Australia
1981-07-21
Forced to follow on and at one stage 500-1 against by the Ladbrokes board, England were rescued by Ian Botham's 149 not out and Bob Willis's 8 for 43 to win a Test no team has ever logically come back from.
West Indies vs Pakistan
1958-01-23
Asked to follow on 473 runs behind in the first Test at Bridgetown in January 1958, Hanif Mohammad batted for 970 minutes — 16 hours 10 minutes across nine consecutive sessions — to score 337 and save the match. It remains the longest innings in Test history and the highest score by a Pakistan batsman away from home.
Australia v England
1894-12-20
On 20 December 1894, with Australia 113 for 2 chasing 177 and the match seemingly won, overnight rain and a hot Sydney sun turned the SCG into a sticky. Bobby Peel — pulled from a hangover by his captain Andrew Stoddart — took 6 for 67 and England won by 10 runs. It was the first time in Test history a side had won after following on, after Australia's first-innings 586 had piled up against an England 325. Wisden called it 'probably the most sensational match ever played either in Australia or in England.'
n/a
1835-05-19
The same MCC laws revision of May 1835 that raised the bowling-arm limit also introduced cricket's first formal follow-on rule. Originally the side that batted second was compelled to follow on if it trailed by a stipulated margin, with no captain's discretion; the threshold and the discretion would be amended several times in later decades.