Lives in Cricket No 2 - Johnny Briggs

century was a tour de force, perhaps MacLaren’s greatest achievement was in 1921, when he boasted that he could pick a team to beat Warwick Armstrong’s all-conquering Australians. MacLaren selected 11 amateurs and despite being bowled out for 43 in their first knock and conceding a first innings lead of 130 in the match played in Eastbourne at late August, MacLaren’s team gained an unlikely triumph by 28 runs. The following domestic season, 1891, another MacLaren made his first appearance in Lancashire’s ranks with the debut of Archie’s older brother James. His was to be an undistinguished career for the Red Rose, playing just four matches between 1891 and 1894, scoring nine runs for an average of 2.25 and a highest score of six. He didn’t bowl. Unlike his younger sibling who eschewed a university education in order to earn a living at cricket, James chose to become a doctor and played cricket at club level for Bowden CC. Briggs’ 1891 season was very much as you were as far as his bowling was concerned – 128 wickets at 13.22 in all matches, but his batting had dropped away quite markedly and his batting average wasn’t dissimilar to his bowling average (371 runs at 12.38). Sharing the Championship 51