Archie MacLaren
Archibald Campbell MacLaren was an English cricketer. He captained the England cricket team at various times between 1898 and 1909. A right-handed batsman, he played 35 Test matches for England. He led the team to defeat in four Ashes series against Australia. In 1895, he scored 424 runs in an innings against Somerset.
About Archie MacLaren in brief
Archibald Campbell MacLaren was an English cricketer. He 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. He played first-class cricket for Lancashire, captaining that county for most of his career. 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. 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. He had many jobs as he attempted to find ways to support his cricket, family and lifestyle, and worked as a teacher, a journalist and a cricket coach. In 1921, a team selected and captained by him 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 score 200 runs. He died in 1944, aged 72, and was buried at Elstree, near Manchester, where he had been a schoolfriend of his father’s for many years. His father, a cotton merchant and cricket enthusiast, served as honorary treasurer to the Lancashhire team from 1881 until his death in 1900.
His younger brother, Geoffrey, followed them but financial difficulties prevented any younger members of the family from playing cricket. Maclaren senior sent Archie and his older brother James to ElStree, a school well-regarded for its coaching. He came top of the batting averages for the early years of the school’s cricket season. In 1887, he was selected for the Harrow School’s cricket team and scored his first century. Although he was easily defeated by Eton College’s inexperienced team, he top-scored in both innings of the following two years playing cricket in wet weather. He later became a private secretary to K. S. Ranjitsinhji and became involved in his employer’s financial scandals. In 1900, he became captain in his own right in 1899. In 1901, he captained England in three consecutive series against Australia, losing to them in 1899, 1901–02 and 1902. In 1905 he was replaced as captain, 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. The following year he ceased playing regular first-Class cricket. He played occasionally until 1922-23, and had some late successes: in 1921 he scored 200 runs in a match against New Zealand. He also played occasionally for the MCC in New Zealand in 1922.
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