5 largest 1st innings leads after which follow-on was not enforced

During the old days in Test match cricket, teams would be enticed in making the opposition bat again when a lead of more than 199 – on which a side was eligible to enforce the follow-on was on its side. Those were days when bowlers were a lot fresher with not even half the amount of cricket as that played today. While the idea of not having to bat again seemed attractive then, the modern day has witnessed most instances when a captain chooses to bat and build a stronger lead rather than have a go with the ball.

Massive Test match leads have been gained with the most famous of the follow-on Tests remaining the Calcutta game between India and Australia in 2001, but Sportskeeda recalls the five highest first innings lead when the follow-on was not enforced.

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#5 340: Australia vs West Indies, Sydney 1969

On West Indies' tour of Australia in 1968-69, the hosts were 2-1 ahead with the fifth and final Test at Sydney remaining to be played. Garry Sobers inserted Australia and his bowlers reduced them to 51/3. But his opposite number Bill Lawry and Doug Walters then began a huge stand of 336 which eventually took them to a massive total of 619. Alan Connolly and Graham McKenzie then combined for seven wickets to bowl West Indies out for 279, thus leaving the hosts with a lead of 340.

Lawry then chose not to make West Indies bat again, and centuries from Ian Redpath and Walters, again, took Australia to 394/8, after which they declared. Set with a daunting task of chasing down 735, the West Indies lost five men for only 102 on the board before captain Sobers and Seymour Nurse showed some fight with a 118-run stand. Both got centuries, but Australia bowled them out for 352 to win the match by 282 runs.

Brief Scores: Australia 619 (Walters 242, Lawry 151; Hall 3/157) and 394/8 dec (Redpath 132, Walters 103; Sobers 3/117) beat West Indies 279 (Carew 64; Connolly 4/61, McKenzie 3/90) and 352 (Nurse 137, Sobers 113; Gleeson 3/84) by 382 runs

#4 380: England vs Australia, The Oval 1934

Australia thrashed England by 562 runs at The Oval in 1934 after gaining a

first innings

lead of 380 but not enforcing the follow-on

The five-match Ashes series in 1934 was tied 1-1 when the teams landed at The Oval to try and edge over for a win and claim the urn. The visiting captain Bill Woodfull batted first, and to his great glory, the second wicket stand between Bill Ponsford and the great Don Bradman was that of a mountain-like 451. They were finally separated when Bradman departed for 244, but Ponsford carried on to make 266. Australia tallied 701, always a humungous score irrespective of the opposition.

England were bowled out for 321 as Maurice Leyland contributed 110 while Hans Ebeling and Clarrie Grimmett bagged three wickets each. A huge advantage of 380 was already in Australia's pocket, but Woodfull wanted to bat again. Bradman and Stan McCabe added 150 for the third wicket as their side hit 327 in the second innings, thus setting England 708 to stake a claim for the Ashes. Expectedly, the visitors crumbled under pressure to the spin of Grimmett, who grabbed 5/64, while two scalps to McCabe and Bill O'Reilly finished England for 145.

Brief Scores: Australia 701 (Ponsford 266, Bradman 244; Bowes 4/164) and 327 (Bradman 77; Bowes 5/55, Clark 5/98) beat England 321 (Leyland 110, Walters 64; Ebeling 3/74) and 145 (Hammond 43; Grimmett 5/64, McCabe 2/5) by 562 runs

#3 399: Australia vs England, Brisbane 1928

England

were

ahead by 399 in the Ashes Test at Brisbane in 1928 and beat Australia by 675 runs in the match

In a rare occurrence, England dominated Australia in their own backyard when the first Ashes Test of the 1928-29 series went their way by a record figure. On Don Bradman's Test debut, England posted 521 at Brisbane with Patsy Hendren hitting 169 and two lower-order half-centuries pushing them to that score. The visiting bowlers then made merry against the Australian batting, bowling them out for 122 with six wickets to Harold Larwood.

England were 399 ahead but batted again to get 342/8, declaring the innings following 73 from Phil Mead and 65 from Douglas Jardine. Six wickets from Clarrie Grimmett seemed like an effort gone down the drain when Australia were set 742 to win. In an astonishing display with the ball, England romped home with a 675-run win by skittling Australia out for 66, with Jack White bagging 4/7, till date the hosts' biggest Test defeat in terms of runs.

Brief Scores: England 521 (Hendren 169, Larwood 70; Gregory 3/142) and 342/8 dec (Mead 73, Jardine 65*; Grimmett 6/131) beat Australia 122 (Ryder 33; Larwood 6/32, Tate 3/50) and 66 (Woodfull 30*; White 4/7, Tate 2/26) by 675 runs

#2 445: Australia vs England, Brisbane 2006

Australia did not enforce the follow-on on England at Brisbane in 2006 but went on to win by 277 runs

England had arrived in Australia with the urn belonging to them following the historic Ashes win at home in 2005. But a reality check soon brought them back to earth when the hosts racked up 602/9 in the first innings and they themselves fell for merely 157 in reply. Captain Ricky Ponting had led the way with the bat with a contribution of 196 before Glenn McGrath got into the action with a haul of 6/50, as the only respectable score of 50 came from Ian Bell.

Ponting opted for a bat again in the hope of piling up rapid runs and pressuring England. His openers Justin Langer, who got 100*, and Matthew Hayden obliged and Ponting himself scored 60* as Australia hit 202/1 and asked England to chase down 648. This time, however, England were prepared for a fight, all they could manage was 370 with both Paul Collingwood and Kevin Pietersen missing out on hundreds. Australia won by 277 runs and took a 1-0 lead in a series they would go on to win 5-0.

Brief Scores: Australia 602/9 dec (Ponting 196, Hussey 86; Flintoff 4/99) and 202/1 dec (Langer 100*, Ponting 60*; Flintoff 0/11) beat England 157 (Bell 50; McGrath 6/50, Clark 3/21) and 370 (Collingwood 96, Pietersen 92; Clark 4/72) by 277 runs

#1 563: England vs West Indies, Kingston 1930

The series decider between West Indies and England at Kingston in 1930 was played as a timeless Test for ten days

It was the series decider between West Indies and England at Kingston in 1930, the fourth and final Test of the tour. The first three were contested over six days each, but this one was played as a timeless Test with the series on the line. The hosts had four debutants in their line-up as the visiting captain Freddie Calthorpe chose to bat. Andy Sandham posted 325 and Les Ames got 149 with England finally getting bowled out for a mammoth 849, with Timmy Scott getting 5/266.

All West Indies could manage was 286 in reply, falling behind the English total by a huge 563. However, Calthorpe wanted to bat again with time never being a factor. The lead swelled further as England declared at 272/9, asking West Indies to chase the most improbable of targets of 836 despite playing without time limits. Finally, after ten days, the match ended in a draw as an agreement between the sides after West Indies had batted for 164.3 overs, with England due to reach home in order to kickstart their own home summer.

Brief Scores: England 849 (Sandham 325, Ames 149; Scott 5/266) and 272/9 dec (Hendren 55, Sandham 50; Scott 4/108) drew with West Indies 286 (Nunes 66; Astill 3/73, Haig 3/70) and 408/5 (Headley 223, Nunes 92; Wyatt 2/58)