In January 1897, Priestley led his own team on a tour of the West Indies. However, the visit was controversial as Lord Hawke visited the region at the same time. Priestley had been invited by Barbados and Jamaica while Demerera asked Hawke to send a team. Trinidad was happy to accommodate either team but attempts to merge the two touring parties came to nothing. However, the teams did not clash and Priestley was believed to have better cricketers on his team. The tourists played nine first-class games and sixteen matches in total. Priestley only reached double figures in three innings with a top score of 30. During 1898, Priestley played two minor matches on Andrew Stoddart's tour of Australia and Priestley toured two more times—he toured North America with K. S. Ranjitsinhji's side in 1899 and then with Bernard Bosanquet's in 1901, although neither team played any first-class matches.