Editing Archie MacLaren (section)

===World record holder===
MacLaren returned home via Japan, missing the start of the 1895 cricket season.<ref name=D29/> In his absence, he was named as a [[Wisden Cricketers of the Year|"Young Batsman of the Year"]] in ''Wisden'' for his performances in 1894.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/154807.html | title = AC MacLaren (Young Batsman of the Year)| work = Wisden Cricketers' Almanack  | year = 1895 | publisher = John Wisden & Co | location = London |access-date =7 November 2012}}</ref> After playing two games for Lancashire, MacLaren accepted the offer of a teaching job in a [[Preparatory school (United Kingdom)|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 County Cricket Club|Somerset]] at [[Taunton Cricket Ground|Taunton]].<ref name=D29>Down (1981), p. 29.</ref> 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,<ref name="Record">Down (1981), pp. 30–33.</ref> [[W. G. Grace]]'s score of 344, made in 1876.<ref name=fcrecord>{{cite web|title=Highest Individual Innings in First-Class matches|url= http://www.wisdenrecords.com/Records/First_Class/Overall/Batting/Highest_Player_Scores.html| work=Wisden Records| publisher=Wisden| access-date=4 November 2012}}</ref> MacLaren batted for 470 minutes in total and hit 62 [[Boundary (cricket)#Scoring runs|fours]] and a [[Boundary (cricket)#Scoring runs|six]].{{refn|At the time, the ball had to be struck out of the ground, not just over the boundary rope to score a six.<ref name=G84/>|group=notes}}<ref name=G84>Gibson, p. 84.</ref> This remained the highest score in first-class cricket until 1923 when [[Bill Ponsford]] scored 429 in Australia,<ref name="Record"/> and was the largest first-class innings in England until [[Brian Lara]] scored 501 in 1994.{{refn|Modern assessments of the merit of the innings vary. MacLaren's biographer Michael Down suggests that the innings was a considerable achievement: unlike several other scores exceeding 400, it came in England where scores are generally low, and was made in a three-day game. It was also the first time anyone had passed 400 in first-class cricket.<ref>Down (1981), p. 35.</ref> 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 [[Cricket ball#Condition of a cricket ball|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.<ref name=G84/>|group=notes}}<ref name=fcrecord/> In total, Lancashire scored 801 runs and won the game by an innings.<ref name="Record"/> After a spell of lower scores,<ref name=D37/> MacLaren played several big innings, including three consecutive centuries in the last three games of the season.<ref>Wynne-Thomas, p. 62.</ref> He ended 1895 top of the national batting averages with 1,229 runs at 51.20.{{refn|MacLaren finished top of the averages for those batsmen who had played more than ten innings.<ref name=D37/>|group=notes}}<ref name=D37>Down (1981), p. 37.</ref> MacLaren was elected a life member of Lancashire in recognition of his achievements.<ref>Down (1981), p. 38.</ref>

Teaching commitments left MacLaren unavailable for the start of the 1896 season, and his first appearance came in July.<ref name=figures/><ref name=D39>Down (1981), p. 39.</ref> 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,<ref name=D39/> a selection made controversial by his lack of cricket.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/153735.html | title = England v Australia 1896 (Second Test)| work = Wisden Cricketers' Almanack  | year = 1897 | publisher = John Wisden & Co | location = London |access-date =5 November 2012}}</ref> 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.{{refn|There was no national group of selectors at the time, and the team for each match was chosen by a different county authority.<ref name=D39/>|group=notes}}<ref name=D39/> He was dismissed by the first ball he faced in the first innings, and scored 15 runs in the second as England were defeated.<ref name=figures/><ref>Down (1981), p. 40.</ref> Shortly after the Test, he scored 226 against [[Kent County Cricket Club|Kent]] to take Lancashire to a draw in a match they seemed likely to lose.<ref>Down (1981), p. 41.</ref> This was enough for him to retain his place in the team for the final Test match, where he scored 20 and 6.<ref>Down (1981), pp. 41–42.</ref> 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.<ref>Down (1981), p. 43.</ref> In all first-class matches, he scored 922 runs at 36.88.<ref name=fcbatting/>