I dont like cricket I love it....

[Ribenapigeon]

But in football they dont walk off the pitch because they think they've scored enough goals.

[Nobby the Bastard]

[Ribenapigeon]

[Ribenapigeon]

Thanks for helping me understand the game. I'll just have to watch more and let it sink in.

[bhinso]

I'll have a go:
In order to win the game, team A has to bowl out team B two times in the 5 day period.
Team A could run up a massive score/lead in their first or second time (innings), but would still only be a draw if they have now bowled team B out twice.
Let's say, first innings
.Team A gets 300
.Team B gets 250
Team A then goes in again, and is at about 250 for 5 wickets down, i.e. a lead of 300. However, they realise there is only one day left. They may choose to declare, putting team B in and have the chance to bowl them out and win the game. The risk is that team B could reach 301.

Generally though, the pitch deteriorates and it is harder for the team batting last. This is taken into account.

Another thing is that if Team A had a sufficiently higher lead (200 runs?) than team B after the first innings, they can choose to make team B bat again. This is called 'following on' (not following through).