He was known as "The Governor-General" in reference to his authoritative batting style and his flamboyant strokeplay, which drew comparisons with his close friend and role model Victor Trumper, regarded as one of the most elegant batsmen in cricketing history.

It was around this time that Macartney befriended Trumper and began to transform himself from a bowler who batted in a defensive and technically correct manner, into an audacious attacking batsman.

After missing the 1924–25 series due to mental illness or a recurrence of war injuries, Macartney departed international cricket at the peak of his powers on the 1926 tour of England.

Macartney's flair was compared to that of Victor Trumper, and his determination to that of Don Bradman, who is generally regarded as the finest batsman in cricketing history.

[2] Self-taught to a greater extent than anyone else in Australia or England in his era, the 1922 Wisden Almanack described Macartney as "a triumph to individualism... he is not a model to be copied" and "one of the most brilliant and attractive right-handed batsmen in the history of Australian cricket".

[4] An authoritative, combative stylist, Macartney's élan and devastating strokemaking led Kent cricketer Kenneth Hutchings to dub him "The Governor-General".

[1] Fingleton noted that, early in his innings, Macartney had a strategy of aiming a shot straight at the bowler's head, in order to rattle him and seize a psychological advantage.

Leg spinning Test team-mate Arthur Mailey recalled that Macartney would often hit him for six in Sydney Grade Cricket matches.

"[5] Macartney's notorious fiscal obsessions irritated his captain Warwick Armstrong on the 1921 tour; during the trip, he would hoard all manner of goods that were given to the team as gifts.

[7] In 1909, Australian team-mate Trumper moved from Paddington, a suburb on Sydney's south shore to Chatswood on the northern side of the harbour, where Macartney lived.

Trumper was regarded as the "crown prince of the golden age of cricket",[1] the finest and most stylish batsman of his era, and one of the most elegant strokemakers of all time.

[9] On one occasion, Macartney felt so guilty that the umpire had incorrectly ruled him not out despite a clear edge that he attempted to throw his wicket away with a wild airborne shot.

However, the ball went for six,[9] and Trumper, his batting partner at the time, admonished him, saying that his good luck would be balanced by occasions when the umpire would give him out incorrectly.

[10] He was taught to play cricket as a child by his maternal grandfather George Moore, a slow roundarm bowler who represented New South Wales in three first-class matches against Victoria.

[11] It was during his school career that Macartney was noticed by incumbent Australian captain Monty Noble, who heaped praise on him in a newspaper article.

[1] After leaving school, Macartney worked for a fruit and vegetable merchant near Sydney's Sussex Street docks, honing his batting skills by practising without pads on a wooden wharf during his lunch break.

In one match, he lofted a ball out of the ground, over the railway line and onto a lawn bowling green, forcing the players to take evasive action.

[13] Australia went on to win by 126 runs after Macartney took four more wickets in the second innings, removing MacLaren, Tyldesley, Rhodes and Barnes to help dismiss the hosts for 87.

[2][3][13] Upon returning to the southern hemisphere, Macartney headed to New Zealand for a stint with Otago instead of playing in Australia in 1909–10,[13] due to attractiveness of the foreign outfit's remuneration.

He took match figures of 7/68 against Canterbury and 7/81 in the first innings of a game against Australia, removing Test teammates Warwick Armstrong and Warren Bardsley.

[13][16] The following match against South Africa did not reach the second innings and Australia then lost to England by 244 runs in the final,[13][28] with Macartney taking a total of 2/67 and scoring four and 30.

[13] During an unofficial tour of the Australian team to the United States and Canada during the off season in 1913, which consisted of more than 50 matches, the overwhelming majority of which were not first-class,[13] Macartney scored 2,390 runs at 45.92 and took 189 wickets at 3.81, topping both the batting and bowling averages.

In 1914, he left his job on the Sydney wharves and joined the staff of New South Wales Railways & Tramways in the Chief Mechanical Engineer's Office at Redfern.

[39] In his first match, against Leicestershire, he started strongly with 177. his fast scoring helped Australia complete an innings victory in just over half the allotted playing time.

[16] It gave Warwick Armstrong's men an eighth consecutive Test win,[18][38] which remained a world record for more than five decades until surpassed by the West Indies cricket team of the 1980s.

English captain Arthur Carr won the toss and sent Australia in to bat after a thunderstorm on the previous day had turned the surface into a sticky wicket; Bardsley was then dismissed by the first ball for a golden duck.

[49][52] Utilising both conventional technique and audacious shots, Macartney pierced the field with a variety of cuts, hooks, pulls, drives and glances.

He then took 2/51, removing Carr and Fender as England made 294 and were forced to follow on; however, the Australians could not dismiss the hosts for a second time and the match ended in a draw.

[13] In 1935–36, Macartney was vice-captain to Jack Ryder, on the tour of India organised by Frank Tarrant; he also wrote forthright columns for The Hindu, covering the trip.

At the time, the NSW Railway & Tramway Magazine noted that he was a "strict teetotaller and non-gambler" who loved his pipe, tennis and music.