In the first Test, MacLaren shared a century opening partnership with Tom Hayward and scored 116 to become the first man to score four Test centuries. This was the last Test century by an England captain in Australia for 57 years. Barnes bowled with great success; Colin Blythe and Len Braund, like Barnes chosen by MacLaren and making their Test debuts, performed effectively and England won by an innings. The remaining four Tests were lost as the team suffered from a lack of effective bowlers. MacLaren severely overbowled Barnes, who took 13 wickets, in the second Test; the bowler was injured in the next game and took no further part on the tour. MacLaren was successful with the bat. He scored 92 in the fourth Test, made centuries in the two first-class games played in between the Test matches, and finished top of the batting averages. Critics judged that his team had performed well despite the heavy defeat, and his captaincy attracted praise. In addition, the team were considered to be the best fielding side to visit Australia. In the Test series, MacLaren scored 412 runs at 45.77, while in all first-class matches he hit 929 runs at 58.06.