Editing Archie MacLaren (section)

===Appointment and start of captaincy===
MacLaren played little cricket in 1898, initially owing to his teaching commitments and the need to establish himself and his wife in a new home. After making his first appearance in July, he did not play again until August. He played nine first-class games, scoring 478 runs at 29.87, before his season was ended by [[neuralgia]].<ref name=fcbatting/><ref>Down (1981), pp. 53–54.</ref> Despite his frequent absences—again he missed the first part of the season—Lancashire re-appointed MacLaren as joint captain for 1899.<ref>Down (1981), p. 54.</ref> That summer, the Australians toured England and the first Test took place before MacLaren had played any cricket.{{refn|For the first time, the England team was chosen by a committee of selectors appointed by the MCC for the duration of the series.<ref name=D55-6>Down (1981), pp. 55–56.</ref>|group=notes}} For the second game, MacLaren replaced W. G. Grace as England captain;{{refn|W. G. Grace, also one of the selectors, wished to step down owing to his age and increased weight. His suggested replacement was MacLaren. According to [[C. B. Fry]], another selector, the selectors were undecided when Fry arrived late at the meeting. Unaware of the discussions regarding Grace's position, Fry was asked by Grace if he thought MacLaren should play. Fry's affirmative answer broke the deadlock among the selectors and MacLaren played instead of Grace.<ref name=D55-6/> However, Gibson suggests that this account by Fry cannot be the whole story as other batsmen were replaced for the match, and Grace may have inadvertently brought about his replacement by trying to promote a fellow [[Gloucestershire County Cricket Club|Gloucestershire]] cricketer into the team.<ref name=G48/>|group=notes}}<ref name=D55-6/> the other candidate for the leadership was [[Stanley Jackson (cricketer)|Stanley Jackson]], who was senior to MacLaren at Harrow and had preceded him into the England side, but MacLaren was favoured owing to his previous experience in the role with Lancashire and England.<ref name=G48>Gibson, p. 48.</ref>

Australia comfortably won the second Test, and on his first appearance of the season, MacLaren scored 4&nbsp;runs opening the innings on the first day. In the second innings, he moved down the order to number six, but he came in to bat when England trailed heavily and had lost four wickets. He batted for around 150 minutes to score 88 not out.<ref>Down (1981), pp. 56–57.</ref> The ''Wisden'' match report stated: "There was&nbsp;... some risk in playing MacLaren, who had not so far taken part in any first-class cricket during the season. In this case however, the [selection] committee had reason to congratulate themselves, MacLaren playing a magnificent second innings and making a great, though fruitless, effort to save the game&nbsp;... Never has MacLaren played a greater innings."<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/150163.html | title = England v Australia 1899 (Second Test)| work = Wisden Cricketers' Almanack  | year = 1900 | publisher = John Wisden & Co | location = London |access-date =13 November 2012}}</ref> Afterwards, MacLaren scored a century in difficult batting conditions against Yorkshire.<ref>Down (1981), p. 57.</ref> Jackson did not play in this game, and initially refused to play for England in the third Test; the press attributed this to jealousy of MacLaren and anger at being passed over for the captaincy. The third Test was [[Result (cricket)#Draw|drawn]] owing to poor weather, but England's revival continued in the next game, which was drawn with England in a dominant position. The final match was also drawn, but while England lost the series 1–0, critics believed the team had recovered from a poor start to the summer and held the ascendancy in the final three games.<ref>Down (1981), pp. 57–60.</ref> MacLaren's only score over fifty was that in the second Test, and he finished the series with 164 runs at 32.80.<ref name=tbat/> In all first-class cricket, he made 814 runs at 32.56, including two centuries against Yorkshire.<ref name=fcbatting/><ref>Down (1981), pp. 57, 59.</ref>