Archie MacLaren (1871 – 1944) was an English cricketer who captained the England cricket team at various times between 1898 and 1909. A right-handed batsman, he played 35 Test matches for England.
An amateur, MacLaren played first-class cricket for Lancashire, captaining that county for most of his career. As a batsman, MacLaren was one of the leading cricketers of his time and had a reputation as a fast-scoring stylist. 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. Opinions were divided over his captaincy. 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 an average leader.
No one has captained England against Australia more often than Archie MacLaren
He did it 22 times (Mike Brearley is next with 18). MacLaren hit 109 in his first Test as captain (Sydney, 1897-98), and a match-winning 140 at Trent Bridge in 1905.
At county level his 424 for Lancashire v Somerset at Taunton in 1895 was a record until Brian Lara's 501 not out in 1994.
He was very prominent in cricket during a long career lasting altogether from 1887 to 1923, passing away on the 17th of November 1944, aged 72
Archibald Campbell MacLaren was born on 1 December 1871.