He was then selected for the 1955 tour of the West Indies, on which his father acted as manager of the squad. A team meeting was held to officially allow Burge to address his father as "Jack", as the other players did, instead of "dad". In the warm-up match against Jamaica, Burge made 29 and 69 and was selected in the First Test. He scored 14 in the first innings and was not required to bat in the second innings as Australia won by nine wickets. He then made a duck and 2 in the next tour match against Trinidad and was dropped for the remaining four Tests of the series, which Australia took 3–0. Burge's highlight of the tour was an innings of 177 against British Guiana, which set up an innings victory. He ended the first-class matches with 310 runs at 38.75. After the tour, Burge suffered a setback when his father began to develop the heart problems that eventually claimed his life. Nevertheless, the elder Burge insisted that his health not hinder his son's career.