Lancashire Cricketer
Lancashire monitored MacLaren's progress during his time at Harrow, and selected him to play in some trial matches for the Colts team. MacLaren also represented Manchester Cricket Club while a schoolboy. When his season for Harrow ended in 1890, he was selected to play for Lancashire in the County Championship. He made his first-class debut on 14 August 1890 in a match against Sussex team and scored 108 on a difficult pitch. He scored his runs in a relatively fast time of two hours, and critics praised his innings. Although he was 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. But while his contemporaries were developing their skills in University cricket in the following seasons, financial considerations kept MacLaren out of cricket for much of 1891 and 1892, as he had to work at the District Bank. In the process, his cricket stagnated for a time, but he gradually increased the number of games he played as the lure of cricket became too much.
When he did play for Lancashire, generally against the stronger teams, MacLaren was moderately successful. He led the county's batting averages in 1892; the second of his two centuries that year followed a difficult spell in which he scored few runs, and came when he was asked to open 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 in 1893. He scored consistently, had success in the high profile match against Yorkshire, and even led the team in the absence of the regular captain. His success attracted the attention of the cricket authorities, and 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 highly prestigious Gentlemen v Players match at Lord's.
Before the 1894 season, MacLaren resigned from the bank in order to play a whole season of cricket. Lancashire at the time were undergoing a period of transition in which new players came into the team, and the captaincy was unsettled. Three men captained the county in the first part of the season before dropping out of the side. In the absence of other amateurs with county experience, MacLaren was appointed captain. His batting form at the time was poor, and he lost his first match in charge. From this point, the team gradually improved and by the end of the season, Lancashire were a formidable team. The club finished fourth in the Championship, and critics viewed his leadership positively. Personally, MacLaren batted well enough to be chosen for the Gentlemen v Players match again, and maintained his reputation, but finished sixth in the Lancashire batting averages. Like the previous two seasons, he averaged in the mid-20s with the bat; as in 1893, he did not score a century. But his successful leadership of his team led some critics to suggest him as a future England captain, and at the end of the season, he was a last minute selection to tour Australia with a team led by Andrew Stoddart.
Read more about this topic: Archie MacLaren