The Follow-On: 5-Day Test Cricket Captaincy Simulator

You are the captain. Build an XI from every men's Test cricketer since 1877,3,274 players with their real career records, and take them into a five-day Test match against a country's greatest-ever XI. The engine plays out every ball; you make the calls a real captain makes: the toss, batting intent, bowling changes, the new ball, the declaration, the follow-on.

A Test is won by scoring more runs across two innings each and bowling the opposition out twice. If time runs out first, five days, ninety overs a day, the match is a draw. That clock is the soul of Test cricket: sometimes you bat to win, sometimes you bat all day just to survive.

1. Set the stage, choose your opponent, the venue (the pitch matters: green tops seam, dust bowls turn, flat roads break bowlers' hearts), and the era rules.
2. Pick your XI, search and filter 3,274 players. A balanced side is roughly: 5–6 batters (two who can open), a wicketkeeper, and 4–5 bowlers with at least one spinner. No keeper = byes and dropped catches. Only three bowlers = they'll be exhausted by day two.
3. Set the batting order, the order you confirm is the order they walk out. The engine never re-sorts your XI.
4. Play the match, press PLAY and watch over-by-over (use FAST to skim, +1 OVER to creep). The match pauses whenever a real decision is yours:
   • Toss, bat first on a flat deck; consider bowling on a green top, day 1 morning.
   • Batting intent, defensive / normal / positive / all-out attack. Attack scores fast but loses wickets fast. Defensive is how you bat out day 5 for a draw.
   • Bowling changes, the captain's panel lists your options while you're bowling. Quicks with the new ball, spinners as the pitch wears (day 3+). Bowlers tire mid-spell and need rest.
   • New ball, available every 80 overs. Harder ball = more for your seamers, but it flies off the bat and your spinners lose grip.
   • Declare, close your innings early to leave time to bowl the opposition out. Declare too late and you run out of overs; too early and you've left them a gettable chase.
   • Follow-on, lead by 200+ after the first innings each, and you may make them bat again immediately. Ruthless, but your bowlers get no rest.
5. The result, win by runs (they fell short chasing), by wickets (you chased it down), or the grandest of all: by an innings (they never made you bat twice). Or bat out the clock for a draw. The game auto-saves at stumps each day, resume anytime from the title screen.

The era sets the playing conditions and laws of the period, not who you can pick. Your Bradman-and-Bumrah XI can play under any era's rules:

• Golden Age (1877–1914), 3-day matches on rough, uncovered pitches. Wickets tumble, draws come fast, every session counts.
• Between the Wars (1920–39), 4-day Tests, uncovered pitches, slightly gentler scoring.
• Timeless Test, no draw possible: play to a finish however long it takes, like the 1939 Durban Test that ran ten days.
• Post-War (1946–69), 5 days but slow, attritional scoring; the new ball comes every 65 overs.
• Pace Age (1970–99), covered pitches, 96 overs a day, the classic modern-ish Test.
• Modern (2000–present), 90 overs a day, new ball at 80, follow-on at 200. The default.

Every player's rating reflects how good they were in their own time, so any-era XIs are a fair fight. The era picker only changes the match: days available, overs per day, new-ball law, follow-on margin, scoring tempo, and whether rain-ruined uncovered pitches are in play.