The West Indies cricket team toured England in the 1939 season to play a three-match Test series against England. England won the series 1–0 with two matches drawn. The West Indians played a total of 25 first-class matches, winning eight with six defeats and eleven draws.

The tour was discontinued a few days after the final Test match because of the worsening international situation with the Second World War imminent. All matches scheduled from 26 August to 12 September were cancelled. West Indies did not play Test cricket again until January 1948 when England toured the Caribbean. The 1939 series was also the last played till after the war by England, whose next opponents were India in 1946.

The 1940 edition of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack named Learie Constantine of Barbados as one of its Five Cricketers of the Year along with English players Bill Edrich, Walter Keeton, Brian Sellers, and Doug Wright.

West Indies players The West Indies toured with a 16-man squad captained by Rolph Grant, with John Cameron as his vice-captain. The manager of the team was John Kidney, who played 11 first-class matches for Barbados between 1909 and 1932; he had previously managed the 1933 touring team in England.

Squad details below state the player's age at the beginning of the tour, his batting hand, his type of bowling, and his team in the Inter-Colonial Tournament (ICT) at the time: + Batters Name ICT Birth date Batting style Bowling style Ref Peter Bayley British Guiana right-handed none George Headley Jamaica right-handed leg break Jeff Stollmeyer Trinidad & Tobago right-handed leg break & googly Vic Stollmeyer Trinidad & Tobago right-handed leg break & googly Ken Weekes Jamaica left-handed unknown + All-rounders Name ICT Birth date Batting style Bowling style Ref Learie Constantine Barbados right-handed right-arm fast or medium pace Gerry Gomez Trinidad & Tobago right-handed right-arm medium pace Rolph Grant (captain) Trinidad & Tobago right-handed off break Foffie Williams Barbados right-handed right-arm fast medium + Wicket-keepers Name ICT Birth date Batting style Bowling style Ref Ivan Barrow Jamaica right-handed none Derek Sealy Barbados right-handed none + Bowlers Name ICT Birth date Batting style Bowling style Ref John Cameron (vice-captain) (Somerset, England) right-handed leg break & googly Bertie Clarke Barbados right-handed leg break & googly Leslie Hylton Jamaica right-handed right-arm fast Tyrell Johnson Trinidad & Tobago left-handed left-arm fast Manny Martindale Barbados right-handed right-arm fast Of the 16 players in the squad, Martindale, Barrow, and Headley had toured with the previous West Indies team to visit England in 1933, while Constantine (who had toured England in 1923 and 1928) and Grant had been co-opted to that team for a few matches. Constantine had played in West Indies' first-ever Test on the 1928 tour, and Sealy (the youngest Test player for West Indies) had played in the first Tests in the West Indies, when England toured in 1929–30. Grant and Hylton had made their Test debuts in the 1934–35 series in the West Indies.

Eight of the nine other players in the side made their Test debuts during the 1939 tour. They were Cameron, Clarke, Gomez, Johnson, the Stollmeyer brothers, Weekes and Williams. Only Bayley was not capped on this tour, and he never played Test cricket.

England selections England in the last two years of peacetime did not have a settled team. They used a total of 31 players in the 1938 home series against Australia, the 1938/39 tour of South Africa, and the 1939 home series against West Indies. Seventeen played in the three Tests against West Indies. Wally Hammond captained the team in the whole series. + Batters Name County Championship Birth date Batting style Bowling style Ref Denis Compton Middlesex right-handed slow left-arm wrist spin Arthur Fagg Kent right-handed right-arm medium pace Harold Gimblett Somerset right-handed right-arm medium pace Wally Hammond (captain) Gloucestershire right-handed right-arm medium-fast Joe Hardstaff Jr Nottinghamshire right-handed right-arm medium pace Len Hutton Yorkshire right-handed leg break Walter Keeton Nottinghamshire right-handed none Buddy Oldfield Lancashire right-handed unknown Eddie Paynter Lancashire left-handed right-arm medium pace + All-rounders Name County Championship Birth date Batting style Bowling style Ref Stan Nichols Essex left-handed right-arm fast + Wicket-keepers Name County Championship Birth date Batting style Bowling style Ref Arthur Wood Yorkshire right-handed none + Bowlers Name County Championship Birth date Batting style Bowling style Ref Bill Bowes Yorkshire right-handed right-arm fast medium Bill Copson Derbyshire right-handed right-arm fast medium Tom Goddard Gloucestershire right-handed off break Reg Perks Worcestershire left-handed right-arm fast medium Hedley Verity Yorkshire right-handed slow left-arm orthodox Doug Wright Kent right-handed leg break & googly

Tour itinerary The West Indians were scheduled to play a total of forty matches on their 1939 tour. The first two, both one-day games of minor status, were abandoned without a ball bowled due to rain. Between 3 May and 22 August, they played 33. Of these, 25 including the three Tests were first-class, and eight were minor matches. After the tour was discontinued in August, five scheduled matches—four first-class and one minor—were left unplayed. On 4 September, the West Indians played an unscheduled ad hoc match in Montréal. In the list, minor matches are in italics. Date Match title Venue Result 1 May R. Earle's XI v West Indians Busbridge Hall, Godalming Match abandoned (rain) 2 May Reigate Priory v West Indians Park Lane, Reigate Match abandoned (rain) 3 May L. E. G. Ames' XI v West Indians Bat and Ball Ground, Gravesend Match drawn 4 May Army v West Indians Officers Club Services Ground, Aldershot West Indians won by 3 wickets 6–8 May Worcestershire v West Indians New Road, Worcester Worcestershire won by 85 runs 10–12 May Lancashire v West Indians Aigburth, Liverpool Match drawn. 13–16 May Marylebone Cricket Club v West Indians Lord's, St John's Wood Match drawn. 17–19 May Cambridge University v West Indians Fenner's, Cambridge Match drawn. 20–23 May Surrey v West Indians The Oval, Kennington Surrey won by 7 wickets. 24–26 May Oxford University v West Indians University Parks, Oxford West Indians won by an innings and 5 runs. 27–30 May Glamorgan v West Indians Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff Glamorgan won by 73 runs. 31/5–1/6 Essex v West Indians County Ground, Chelmsford West Indians won by 2 wickets. 3–6 June Middlesex v West Indians Lord's, St John's Wood West Indians won by an innings and 228 runs. 7–8 June Northamptonshire v West Indians County Ground, Northampton West Indians won by 9 wickets. 10–13 June Derbyshire v West Indians County Ground, Derby Match drawn. 14–16 June Minor Counties v West Indians Lord's, St John's Wood Match drawn. 17–20 June Leicestershire v West Indians Aylestone Road, Leicester Match drawn. 21–22 June Lincolnshire v West Indians Brumby Hall, Scunthorpe West Indians won by an innings and 60 runs. 24–27 June England v West Indies (1st Test) Lord's, St John's Wood England won by 8 wickets. 28–29 June Norfolk v West Indians County Ground, Lakenham Match drawn. 1–4 July Nottinghamshire v West Indians Trent Bridge, Nottingham West Indians won by an innings and 94 runs. 5–7 July Yorkshire v West Indians St George's Road, Harrogate Match drawn. 8–11 July Lancashire v West Indians Old Trafford, Manchester Match drawn. 12–13 July Northumberland v West Indians Osborne Avenue, Jesmond Match drawn. 15–17 July Durham v West Indians Ashbrooke, Sunderland Match drawn. 19–20 July Sir Julien Cahn's XI v West Indians West Park, West Bridgford Match drawn. 22–25 July England v West Indies (2nd Test) Old Trafford, Manchester Match drawn. 26–28 July Surrey v West Indians The Oval, Kennington West Indians won by 7 wickets. 29/7–1/8 Hampshire v West Indians Dean Park, Bournemouth West Indians won by 10 wickets. 2–3 August Somerset v West Indians County Ground, Taunton Somerset won by an innings and 72 runs. 5–7 August Glamorgan v West Indians St Helen's, Swansea West Indians won by 2 wickets. 9–11 August Warwickshire v West Indians Edgbaston, Birmingham Match drawn. 12–15 August Gloucestershire v West Indians College Ground, Cheltenham Gloucestershire won by 7 wickets. 16–17 August Wiltshire v West Indians Great Western Railway Ground, Swindon Match drawn. 19–22 August England v West Indies (3rd Test) The Oval, Kennington Match drawn. 26–29 August Sussex v West Indians County Ground, Hove Cancelled. 30/8–1/9 Kent v West Indians St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury Cancelled. 2–3 September W. E. Butlin's XI v West Indians Richmond Drive, Skegness Cancelled. 4 September Montréal XI v West Indians Westmount Athletic Ground, Montréal West Indians won on first innings lead. 6–8 September England XI v West Indians Cheriton Road, Folkestone Cancelled. 9–12 September H. D. G. Leveson-Gower's XI v West Indians North Marine Road, Scarborough Cancelled.

Test series England and the West Indies played three Tests between June and August. England won the series 1–0 with two matches drawn: First Test at Lord's: England won by 8 wickets Second Test at Old Trafford: match drawn Third Test at The Oval: match drawn

1st Test

George Headley, with 106 in the first innings and 107 in the second, became the first cricketer to make separate hundreds in a Test at Lord's. It was the second time he had achieved this feat against England, having made 114 and 112 at Georgetown in 1929–30. Jeff Stollmeyer, on his Test debut, made 59 out of 147 in West Indies' first innings, and Bill Copson, also making his Test debut, took five for 85. England's reply was based on 196 for Len Hutton. Hutton shared a fourth wicket partnership of 248 with Denis Compton, who made 120. With the whole of the final day to save the match, West Indies looked to be on course at 190 for four, but lost their last six wickets for 35 runs. Copson took four in the innings to finish with match figures of nine for 152. England had 110 minutes to make 99 for victory and did it with 35 minutes to spare.

2nd Test

Rain and bad light ruined the match, with only 35 minutes play possible on the first day. Clarke's leg-spin and Grant's off-spin caused an England collapse to 62 for five, but Joe Hardstaff made 76 out of 111 in 100 minutes. England declared when Hardstaff was out with the thought that the pitch would get more difficult, but Grant made 47 out of 56 with three sixes off Tom Goddard. On the morning of the last day, only Headley, with 51, offered much resistance, Bill Bowes taking six for 33 in 17.4 (eight-ball) overs. England's batsmen failed to take the initiative in the second innings, and the match petered out to a draw. The catch that Wally Hammond took to dismiss Headley in West Indies' second innings was his 100th in Tests: the first player to achieve this apart from wicket-keepers.

3rd Test

Debutant Johnson took the wicket of Walter Keeton with his first delivery in Test cricket, but Buddy Oldfield made 80 on his first appearance for England, and with Hutton making 73 and Hardstaff 94, England were all out for 352 before the end of the first day. Jeff Stollmeyer and Headley both made 50s for West Indies in a cautious start on the second day, but then Vic Stollmeyer, making his Test debut, and Weekes added 163 in 100 minutes for the fifth wicket. Stollmeyer was out for 96 but Weekes went on to a hundred in 100 minutes and finished with 137. On the final morning, Constantine hit 79 out of 103 from the final 92 balls of the innings. England lost Keeton and Oldfield cheaply in their second innings, but Hutton (165 not out) and Hammond (138) shared a third wicket partnership of 264, then a world Test record, to make the match and the series safe.

Tour discontinued