Archibald Campbell MacLaren (1 December 1871 – 17 November 1944) was an English cricketer who captained the England cricket team at various times between 1898 and 1909. A right-handed batsman, he played 35 Test matches for England, as captain in 22 of those games, and led the team to defeat in four Ashes series against Australia. An amateur, MacLaren played first-class cricket for Lancashire, captaining that county for most of his career. As a batsman, MacLaren was one of the leading cricketers of his time and had a reputation as a fast-scoring stylist. In 1895, he scored 424 runs in an innings against Somerset which was the highest individual score in first-class cricket until 1923 and remained a record in English cricket until 1994. Opinions were divided over his captaincy. He was a deep thinker on the game and critics believed him to be tactically advanced, but his pessimism, clashes with the selectors and inability to get the best out of his players led most commentators to rate him a poor leader.
After attending public school, MacLaren played intermittently for Lancashire until 1899 as he tried to establish a career outside the sport. Even so, he was appointed county captain in 1894 and was chosen frequently to play for England. An appointment as Lancashire's assistant secretary allowed him to play more regularly from 1900. He first captained England in 1898 as a stand-in, but became captain in his own right in 1899. Under his leadership, England lost to Australia in three consecutive series—1899, 1901–02 and 1902. MacLaren was involved in controversies throughout all three defeats, and was replaced as captain in 1905, although he remained in the team. Business interests kept him out of the game for the following years, but he was invited to lead England once more in 1909. Defeat in that series ended his Test career, and the following year he ceased playing regular first-class cricket. He played occasionally until 1922–23, and had some late successes: in 1921, a team selected and captained by MacLaren defeated a previously unbeaten Australian team, and on his final first-class appearance during a 1922–23 Marylebone Cricket Club tour of New Zealand, he scored 200 runs.
MacLaren had many jobs as he attempted to find ways to support his cricket, family and lifestyle. At various times, he worked as a teacher, a journalist and a cricket coach. For many years, he was employed as Lancashire's assistant secretary but such were his financial worries that he often had to ask for cash advances from the committee, with which he had a stormy relationship. He worked for several years as private secretary to K. S. Ranjitsinhji and he became involved in his employer's financial scandals. Many of MacLaren's later business ventures were failures, and only when his wife came into an inheritance did he and his family live in comfort. Throughout his life, MacLaren was involved in many disagreements and was never popular with teammates. However, he was a hero to the cricket writer Neville Cardus, who wrote prolifically on him. MacLaren died in 1944, aged 72.
Early life
MacLaren was born on 1 December 1871 in Whalley Range, a fairly prosperous district of Manchester, the second of seven sons to James MacLaren and Emily Carver. His father, a cotton merchant and cricket enthusiast, served as honorary treasurer to the Lancashire team from 1881 until his death in 1900. MacLaren senior encouraged his sons to play cricket. With the aim of improving their ability in the game, MacLaren senior sent Archie and his older brother James to Elstree, a school well-regarded for its coaching.
MacLaren's cricket instruction was supplemented during the holidays at Old Trafford Cricket Ground, where his father paid professional cricketers to bowl at him. He was soon selected for the school's cricket team, scored his first century, and was the captain by his final year. From Elstree, MacLaren went to Harrow School in 1886 where he joined James; Geoffrey, their younger brother, followed them but financial difficulties prevented any other family members attending the school. MacLaren had little success in intra-school cricket during his first year there but in 1887, success in trial games resulted in his promotion to the school first eleven. A century in an early match ensured his selection for the important fixture against Eton College at Lord's. Although an inexperienced Harrow team was easily defeated, MacLaren top-scored in both innings with scores of 55 and 67, and in praising his batting, critics suggested he had a bright future. Unlike many of his fellow amateur cricketers in this period, MacLaren did not attend Oxford or Cambridge Universities, where he would have played a high level of cricket; his father could not afford to send him or his brothers there. On leaving Harrow, MacLaren found employment with the Manchester and Liverpool District Bank.
Lancashire cricketer
Lancashire monitored MacLaren's progress during his time at Harrow. When his season there ended in 1890, he was selected to play for Lancashire in the County Championship. Making his first-class debut on 14 August 1890 in a match against Sussex, he scored 108 runs on a difficult pitch in a relatively fast time of two hours. Although less successful in the remaining games of the season, he finished fourth in the Lancashire averages with 140 runs at an average of 23.33. MacLaren's financial circumstances forced him to keep working at the District Bank, limiting the amount of cricket he played in 1891 and 1892.
When he did play for Lancashire, MacLaren was moderately successful. He led the county's batting averages in 1892 and in total scored 548 runs at 27.40. Of his two centuries, the second came when he opened the batting. During the winter of 1892–93, MacLaren studied cotton manufacture in New Orleans; when he returned home, he played more regularly for Lancashire. He scored consistently in 1893, totalling 831 runs at 25.18, had success in the high-profile match against Yorkshire, and led the team in the absence of the regular captain. As a result of his successes, he was selected to play for the North of England in a representative match against the Australian team who were touring England that year. He scored 66, sharing an opening partnership of 121 in 80 minutes with his county colleague Albert Ward. Later in the season, he was chosen to play for the amateur "Gentlemen" team in the prestigious Gentlemen v Players match at Lord's.
Before the 1894 season, MacLaren resigned from the bank to play a whole season of cricket. Lancashire at the time were undergoing a period of transition, and the captaincy was unsettled: many of whom reasoned that professionals would not make good captains owing to their worries over safeguarding their contracts or concerns about affecting the livelihoods of other professionals.|group=notes MacLaren was appointed captain. Wisden Cricketers' Almanack observed that MacLaren was young for the position, and largely unproven in cricket, but it supported the decision. After losing his first match in charge,
Test cricketer
Test debut
thumb|alt=Head-shot photographs of the English cricketers arranged around an image of Stoddart in the centre|Stoddart's team which toured Australia in 1894–95: MacLaren is at the bottom left
Approached to organise a touring team by the Australian cricket authorities, Stoddart had been unable to persuade several leading batsmen to join his squad. Stoddart only took 13 men, of whom two were wicket-keepers (only one of whom could realistically play in each match) and one was a lob bowler who did not play any Test matches; this guaranteed MacLaren's selection for all the matches against Australia. and hit another half-century in the build-up to the first Test. He made his international debut on 14 December 1894, England also won the next game, although MacLaren was caught from the opening delivery of the match, the first time anyone had been dismissed by the first ball of a Test. Australia took the third and fourth Tests to level the series. MacLaren had little personal success, and averaged only 12.50 in the series after four games. and responded with his first Test century. Batting with greater caution than usual, he scored 120 before accidentally standing on his own wicket. England won the match to take the series 3–2, amid great public interest in England and Australia. MacLaren scored 240 runs at 26.67 in the Test series, finishing fourth in the English averages. He performed more effectively in the lesser matches, and following some final tour fixtures, he totalled 803 runs at 47.23 in all first-class games.
World record holder
MacLaren returned home via Japan, missing the start of the 1895 cricket season. After playing two games for Lancashire, MacLaren accepted the offer of a teaching job in a preparatory school in Harrow; although still Lancashire's captain, he missed several matches, to the disquiet of its supporters. The team's results were mixed in his absence, and he returned to play Somerset at Taunton. On the first day of the three-day game, MacLaren scored 289 not out in 330 minutes. On the second day, he took his score to 424 before he was dismissed, surpassing the previous highest individual innings in first-class cricket, W. G. Grace's score of 344, made in 1876. MacLaren batted for 470 minutes in total and hit 62 fours and a six.