Archie MacLaren

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

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. (At the time, the ball had to be struck out of the ground, not just over the boundary rope to score a six.) This remained the highest score in first-class cricket until 1923 when Bill Ponsford scored 429 in Australia, Cricket writer Alan Gibson, in assessing the innings, notes in its favour that sixes had to be hit out of the ground. On the other hand, he also notes that there was no provision in the laws to change the ball, which made batting easier, and that one of the bowlers was a 17-year-old chosen simply to fill a place in the team. He ended 1895 top of the national batting averages with 1,229 runs at 51.20. (MacLaren finished top of the averages for those batsmen who had played more than ten innings.) MacLaren was elected a life member of Lancashire in recognition of his achievements.

Teaching commitments left MacLaren unavailable for the start of the 1896 season, and his first appearance came in July. Although he had batted only once in the season, he was chosen to play in the second Test match of the summer between England and Australia, As the Test was played at Old Trafford, the England team was chosen by the Lancashire committee, who recognised that MacLaren would attract spectators as a local player. (There was no national group of selectors at the time, and the team for each match was chosen by a different county authority.) Shortly after the Test, he scored 226 against Kent to take Lancashire to a draw in a match they seemed likely to lose. This was enough for him to retain his place in the team for the final Test match, where he scored 20 and 6. He batted effectively for the rest of the season, finishing with 713 runs for Lancashire at 54.85. Critics praised his batting, but his absences may have prevented the team from winning the Championship; they finished second. In all first-class matches, he scored 922 runs at 36.88. concentrating on aggressive batting, he scored faster than in previous years, and hit 974 runs at 51.26. At the end of the season, MacLaren was included in Stoddart's second Australian touring team. Despite high expectations of success, the Test series was lost 4–1. Although nominally captain, Stoddart played in only two Tests; he was grief-stricken after the death of his mother and disillusioned by the failures of his team. MacLaren, after an unproductive start to the tour, scored 142 and 100 against New South Wales to become the first batsman to score two centuries in the same Australian first-class match. In the absence of Stoddart, he captained the England team in the first Test. He scored 109 in the first innings, batting more cautiously than usual, and 50 not out in the second as England won by nine wickets. His captaincy proved controversial when he refused to recall the Australian batsman Charlie McLeod to the wickets after he was dismissed; McLeod was out to a no-ball but, being deaf, did not hear the umpire's call and was run out when he left his crease. With Stoddart still absent, MacLaren was captain in the second Test. Australia won by an innings, and MacLaren was criticised in the Australian press for complaining about the pitch. Commentators also suggested that he underused the bowling of Ted Wainwright. Stoddart returned for the third and fourth Tests, both of which England lost by an innings. MacLaren scored 124 in the third game, but was mocked in the press after the fourth when he claimed that a fly in his eye caused him to be dismissed.

In all first-class matches, MacLaren scored 1,037 runs at 54.57; Wisden noted that MacLaren batted "magnificently" and commented: "Of all the English players the one who had the best cause to look back upon the trip with satisfaction was MacLaren." The couple later had two sons. Despite his frequent absences—again he missed the first part of the season—Lancashire re-appointed MacLaren as joint captain for 1899. That summer, the Australians toured England and the first Test took place before MacLaren had played any cricket. For the second game, MacLaren replaced W. G. Grace as England captain; to become his private secretary, and both men travelled to India during the winter of 1904–05. Ranjitsinhji at the time was pursuing his claim to the throne of Nawanagar, and he remained in India when MacLaren returned to England for the 1905 cricket season.

The Australians toured England in 1905, but MacLaren was again passed over for the England captaincy; the team was captained by Jackson and won the series 2–0. MacLaren began the season well and played in the first Test. Australia led by 25 runs after the first innings, as England struggled to play the pace of Albert Cotter. According to a story later told by Neville Cardus, before the second innings he saw MacLaren muttering: "Cotter! I'll bloody Cotter him!". MacLaren attacked Cotter's bowling, and overcame the defensive bowling tactics used by Australia to slow down the game. He scored 140, his highest Test innings and only Test century in England. When Australia batted, Bernard Bosanquet took eight wickets to bowl England to a win; it was MacLaren's suggestion that Jackson persist with Bosanquet's bowling when it was initially unsuccessful. MacLaren scored 56 and 79 in the drawn second Test, but did not play in the third owing to injury. He played in the final two Tests but accomplished little. In the series, he scored 303 runs at 43.28. In total during 1905, he scored 1,522 runs at an average of 35.39 in all first-class cricket. He missed most of Lancashire's matches in June and July 1906. He returned against Middlesex at Lord's in August, but was involved in mild controversy when he declined to put Middlesex's batsmen under pressure when chasing a small but challenging total to win the game; this may have arisen from his dislike of Lord's and the figures in authority there. MacLaren ended the 1906 season with 599 runs at 20.65. In February, Ranjitsinhji was named as the new ruler of Nawanagar. MacLaren attended his installation on 11 March—MacLaren and the politician Arthur Priestley were the only English attendees —and did not return to England until mid-June, although he informed Lancashire that his absence in India was to recover from an illness. Lancashire would not play—although all decisions about fitness for play should have been made by the umpires, not MacLaren—and the match was drawn. The incident provoked discussion in the press, but most critics agreed that MacLaren was in the wrong. In all first-class cricket in 1907, he scored 829 runs at 26.74. MacLaren played just nine matches in 1908; Lancashire were eager for him to play, but he had little impact. His greatest success came for the Gentlemen against the Players at the Oval, when he shared a partnership of 141 with C. B. Fry. In total, he scored 428 runs at an average of 28.53. Meanwhile, Ranjitsinhji lived extravagantly in Sussex, running up huge bills and ignoring most attempts to make him pay. MacLaren was involved in several cases which resulted in either legal action or complaint to the India Office. When an artist had to go to court to make Ranjitsinhji pay for work she had done, MacLaren's attempts to delay and obstruct her caused the India Office, in its adjudication, to describe him as Ranjitsinhji's "ridiculous private secretary". In October, MacLaren was taken to court himself over non-payment of rent. He had a house close to Ranjitsinhji's residence, and claimed in court that Ranjitsinhji rented the house on his behalf, and, as a ruling prince, could not be prosecuted. The magistrates disagreed, ruled MacLaren liable, and forced him to pay—although Ranjitsinhji probably paid for him.

In his biography of Ranjitsinhji, Simon Wilde suggests that MacLaren had to work very hard for his employer in this period, and found little time for cricket. In addition, his batting form was poor throughout, and he seemed to be in bad physical condition when he occasionally found time to play. Before Ranjitsinhji returned to India, MacLaren resigned as his secretary—although he went with him to India for a holiday. According to Wilde, the resignation was to allow MacLaren to play more regularly, but "he never really recovered his form". In summarising Ranjitsinhji's life at this time, Wilde suggests that his unreliability with money was quite calculated, and writes: "Many of his off-the-field exploits with A. C. MacLaren ... will probably never be known, but it seems clear that sometimes they were not averse to conducting themselves in the fashion of E. W. Hornung's fictional character Raffles, the cricketing burglar."

Return as England captain For the 1909 season, MacLaren worked to improve his fitness prior to that summer's Test series against Australia. Jackson was first choice to lead the England team, but when he was unavailable, MacLaren was appointed captain, to the approval of critics and the public. MacLaren began the season well for Lancashire, and as Australia struggled in their early tour matches, England began the Tests as favourites to win. England won the low-scoring first match; the press praised MacLaren's deployment of fielders. In England's second innings Jack Hobbs, batting with Fry—whom MacLaren promoted to open the batting having done so himself in the first innings—scored the required runs to complete a ten-wicket win. Hobbs was making his first Test appearance in England, despite MacLaren's reluctance to include him in the team. MacLaren's obituary in The Times stated that he was "one of the outstanding opening batsmen of all time". As a batsman, he had a reputation for stylishness, but his technique was based on scoring runs safely. He always tried to seize the initiative in a game. When playing a shot, he either stepped right forward or moved far back in the batting crease and having hit the ball, he followed through with the bat, often holding his pose for effect. One of his most highly regarded shots was the hook. Cardus, for whom MacLaren was a boyhood hero, wrote prolifically about him in later years; he called one such essay on MacLaren "The Noblest Roman", and judged him among the best of all batsmen. MacLaren was also a highly proficient fielder, initially in the outfield but later at slip.

Critics have looked less favourably on MacLaren as a captain. When he assumed the leadership of England, the press were reporting on the tactical performance of captains for the first time. MacLaren was among the first captains to study tactics. However, judgements on his effectiveness have varied greatly. Contemporaries praised his tactical awareness; he planned minutely, and organised his fields extremely carefully to prevent batsmen scoring through blocking their favourite shots, a technique practically unheard of at the time. He liked to alter the batting order, a tactic which often divides critics, although it frequently succeeded for MacLaren. He was less successful in managing his team. Regarded as a pessimist, he openly showed disappointment at the composition of his sides, He encountered many difficulties over selection; he often promoted cricketers whom he considered to show potential and consequently railed against committees which did not provide him with the players he wanted. Down suggests that MacLaren was usually correct, being more experienced and a better judge than most of those who chose the teams. Apart from his own failings, MacLaren had a reputation as an unlucky captain, both in terms of losing important players to injury and illness before vital games, and in the frequency with which he lost the toss before a match. Gibson accepts that MacLaren was tactically a good captain, but observes that in his 12 seasons as leader of a strong Lancashire team, he only once won the County Championship. In addition, as the appointed captain in four series against Australia, he was beaten in each one, something no other England captain has repeated. Gibson suggests that "the excuses begin to run thin, sieved through such a tale of failure."