Editing Archie MacLaren (section)

==Lancashire cricketer==
Lancashire monitored MacLaren's progress during his time at Harrow.<ref>Down (1981), p. 13.</ref> When his season there ended in 1890, he was selected to play for Lancashire in the [[County Championship]]. Making his [[First-class cricket|first-class]] debut on 14 August 1890 in a match against [[Sussex County Cricket Club|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.<ref>Down (1981), p. 15.</ref><ref name=fcbatting>{{cite web|title=First-class Batting and Fielding in Each Season by Archie MacLaren |url-access=subscription  |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/0/177/f_Batting_by_Season.html|publisher=CricketArchive|access-date=3 November 2012}}</ref> MacLaren's financial circumstances forced him to keep working at the District Bank, limiting the amount of cricket he played in 1891 and 1892.<ref name=ODNB/><ref>Down (1981), p. 16.</ref>

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 [[Batting order (cricket)#Opening batsmen|opened the batting]].<ref name=fcbatting/><ref name=D16-17>Down (1981), pp. 16–17.</ref> 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 County Cricket Club|Yorkshire]], and led the team in the absence of the regular captain.<ref name=fcbatting/><ref>Down (1981), p. 17.</ref> As a result of his successes, he was selected to play for the North of England in a representative match against the [[Australia national cricket team|Australian]] team who were touring England that year.{{refn|A representative match in cricket means one in which one or both teams are composed of those regarded as representing the best players in a region or group (for example, the "Players" team represented the best professional cricketers), or one involving national sides.|group=notes}} He scored 66, sharing an [[Batting order (cricket)#Opening batsmen|opening partnership]] of 121 in 80 minutes with his county colleague [[Albert Ward (cricketer, born 1865)|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.<ref>Down (1981), pp. 17–18.</ref>

Before the 1894 season, MacLaren resigned from the bank to play a whole season of cricket.<ref name=D18>Down (1981), p. 18.</ref> Lancashire at the time were undergoing a period of transition, and the captaincy was unsettled:<ref name=D16-17/> three men captained the county in the first part of the season. In the absence of other amateurs with county experience who could play regularly,{{refn|Traditionally, captains in English county and Test cricket were amateurs, who usually came from privileged backgrounds, in contrast to professionals, who often came from the working classes. Consequently, class distinction pervaded cricket which was organised and administered by former and current amateurs,<ref>{{Cite book |last = Birley |first = Derek |title = A Social History of English Cricket |publisher = Aurum Press |year = 1999 |location = London |isbn = 1-85410-941-3 |pages = [https://archive.org/details/socialhistoryofe0000birl/page/105 105–6] |url = https://archive.org/details/socialhistoryofe0000birl/page/105 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book  |last = Ryder  |first = Rowland  |title = Cricket Calling  |publisher = Faber and Faber  |year = 1995  |location= London  |isbn = 0-571-17476-0|pages = 175, 179}}</ref> 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.<ref name=wisden>{{Cite web|last= Caine | first= Stewart| url = http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/story/151713.html| title = Notes by the Editor| work = Wisden Cricketers' Almanack| year = 1928| publisher = John Wisden & Co | location = London | access-date =2 May 2013}}</ref>|group=notes}} MacLaren was appointed captain.<ref name=D19>Down (1981), p. 19.</ref> ''[[Wisden Cricketers' Almanack]]'' observed that MacLaren was young for the position, and largely unproven in cricket, but it supported the decision.<ref name=WT59>Wynne-Thomas, p. 59.</ref> After losing his first match in charge,<ref name=D19/> the team improved in the latter part of the season to finish fourth in the Championship.<ref name=WT59/> MacLaren finished sixth in the Lancashire averages, and in total scored 1,105 runs at 25.69,<ref name=fcbatting/><ref name=D19/> but his batting had made little progress since his debut.<ref name=ODNB/> However, his successful leadership of Lancashire led some press critics to suggest him as a future England captain.<ref name=D18/> At the end of the season, he was a last-minute selection to tour Australia with a team led by [[Andrew Stoddart]].<ref name=D20>Down (1981), p. 20.</ref>