Anthony de Mello (cricket administrator)

The decision to form the board was taken at another meeting held at the same place on 22 November 1927 attended by representatives of various provinces and princely states.

De Mello travelled with Grant Govan to England to organise tours of India by South Africa in 1929 and MCC in 1930–31.

Both tours were eventually cancelled but the BCCI was formally founded at the Roshanara Club in December 1928 with Grant Govan as its first president and De Mello as the secretary.

Guha[12] considers this as an attempt on the part of De Mello and Grant Govan to shift the headquarters of cricket in India from Bombay, but a book published by the CCI for the Golden Jubilee of the Brabourne Stadium[13] attributes this to the unavailability of land in Delhi.

De Mello played a prominent role in selecting the site and convincing Lord Brabourne, the Governor of Bombay, to allot the land for the stadium at a cheap rate.

'[15] His greatest success as a bowler came for a Rest of India team against the Vizzy XI in 1930-31 where took the wickets of Jack Hobbs, Herbert Sutcliffe and C. K.

[19] In 1949, he launched the National Sports Club of India, and was an organizer of the 1952 World Table Tennis Championships in Bombay.

The winner of the England-India Test cricket series held in India is awarded the Anthony de Mello Trophy named after him.