Organised cricket among the Bengalis had received a significant boost at the turn of the century in 1910 with the formation of the Bengal Gymkhana. Dwijen Sen, secretary of the Sporting Union Club and chief architect of the initiative, found a willing patron in the Maharaja of Cooch Behar. The Gymkhana acquired a plot of ground on the maidan beside the Shahid Minar (then the Ochterlony Monument) and had access to the Woodlands cricket ground at Cooch Behar House in Alipore. In 1911, the Bengal Gymkhana played its first match at Woodlands against an opposition fielded by the Maharaja of Kashmir. The Gymkhana spread the gospel of cricket in far-flung areas of the province. It undertook tours to Dhaka and Mymensingh, where cricket was on the wane after the annulment of the partition of Bengal in 1911. The efforts of the Bengal Gymkhana were complemented by the formation of strong cricket sides by the Maharajas of Cooch Behar and Natore, Mymensingh and Rangpur. The Maharajas fielded their own teams, of which they were active members.