The final match of the series was drawn, mainly because the pitch heavily favoured batting. MacLaren was involved in another selection controversy when the fast bowler Claude Buckenham was left out of the England team at his instigation. The "Wisden" match report described this decision as "so grave a blunder that it is difficult to find words in which to speak of it." The "Wisden" editor, Sydney Pardon, commented: "A fatal blunder was committed in leaving out Buckenham—a blunder for which it was generally understood that MacLaren was responsible. Experts occasionally do strange things and this was one of the strangest. The idea of letting England go into the field in fine weather, on a typical Oval wicket, with no fast bowler except Sharp touched the confines of lunacy." Further issues arose over MacLaren's handling of his bowlers, and "Wisden" suggested "MacLaren was sadly at fault in his management of the England bowling". Douglas Carr, a 37-year-old, was called into the team after some success in preceding games and on the premise that the Australians would be unable to play his googly. After Carr had initial success, MacLaren kept him bowling for a long period until the player tired and was easily punished by the batsmen. In his only innings, MacLaren scored 12, and when the match ended, much of the blame for England's failures was apportioned to him. In the series, he scored 85 runs at 12.14. The Oval match was his final Test match; in 35 games he had scored 1,931 runs at 33.87. He ended the season with 613 runs at 19.77.