selected to play for the North of England in a representative match against the Australian team who were touring England that year. He scored 66, sharing an opening partnership of 121 in 80 minutes with his county colleague 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. Before the 1894 season, MacLaren resigned from the bank to play a whole season of cricket. Lancashire at the time were undergoing a period of transition, and the captaincy was unsettled: 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, MacLaren was appointed captain. Wisden Cricketers' Almanack observed that MacLaren was young for the position, and largely unproven in cricket, but it supported the decision. After losing his first match in charge, the team improved in the latter part of the season to finish fourth in the Championship. MacLaren finished sixth in the Lancashire averages, and in total scored 1,105 runs at 25.69, but his batting had made little progress since his debut. However, his successful leadership of Lancashire led some press critics to suggest him as a future England captain. At the end of the season, he was a last-minute selection to tour Australia with a team led by Andrew Stoddart. Test cricketer Test debut Approached to organise a touring team by the Australian cricket authorities, Stoddart had been unable to persuade several leading batsmen to join his squad. Stoddart only took 13 men, of whom two were wicket-keepers (only one of whom could realistically play in each match) and one was a lob bowler who did not play any Test matches; this guaranteed MacLaren's selection for all the matches against Australia. Consequently, he retained his place even when his form was poor. In his first game, against South Australia, he scored 228, and hit another half-century in the build-up to the first Test. He made his international debut on 14 December 1894, scoring 4 and 20 as England won despite being asked to follow on. England also won the next game, although MacLaren was caught from the opening delivery of the match, the first time anyone had been dismissed by the first ball of a Test. Australia took the third and fourth Tests to level the series. MacLaren had