at the Oval, when he shared a partnership of 141 with C. B. Fry. In total, he scored 428 runs at an average of 28.53. Meanwhile, Ranjitsinhji lived extravagantly in Sussex, running up huge bills and ignoring most attempts to make him pay. MacLaren was involved in several cases which resulted in either legal action or complaint to the India Office. When an artist had to go to court to make Ranjitsinhji pay for work she had done, MacLaren's attempts to delay and obstruct her caused the India Office, in its adjudication, to describe him as Ranjitsinhji's "ridiculous private secretary". In October, MacLaren was taken to court himself over non-payment of rent. He had a house close to Ranjitsinhji's residence, and claimed in court that Ranjitsinhji rented the house on his behalf, and, as a ruling prince, could not be prosecuted. The magistrates disagreed, ruled MacLaren liable, and forced him to pay—although Ranjitsinhji probably paid for him. In his biography of Ranjitsinhji, Simon Wilde suggests that MacLaren had to work very hard for his employer in this period, and found little time for cricket. In addition, his batting form was poor throughout, and he seemed to be in bad physical condition when he occasionally found time to play. Before Ranjitsinhji returned to India, MacLaren resigned as his secretary—although he went with him to India for a holiday. According to Wilde, the resignation was to allow MacLaren to play more regularly, but "he never really recovered his form". In summarising Ranjitsinhji's life at this time, Wilde suggests that his unreliability with money was quite calculated, and writes: "Many of his off-the-field exploits with A. C. MacLaren ... will probably never be known, but it seems clear that sometimes they were not averse to conducting themselves in the fashion of E. W. Hornung's fictional character Raffles, the cricketing burglar." Return as England captain For the 1909 season, MacLaren worked to improve his fitness prior to that summer's Test series against Australia. Jackson was first choice to lead the England team, but when he was unavailable, MacLaren was appointed captain, to the approval of critics and the public. MacLaren began the season well for Lancashire, and as Australia struggled in their early tour matches, England began the Tests as favourites to win. England won the low-scoring first match; the press praised MacLaren's deployment of fielders. In England's second innings Jack Hobbs, batting with