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, undertaking tours to Dhaka and Mymensingh. The efforts were complemented by the Maharajas of Cooch Behar and Natore, who reversed colonial hierarchies by hiring English professionals to play under them.
"It wrought an immense improvement in the standard of cricket among the Bengalis... The Town Club, the Aryans, Mohammedan Sporting, Mohun Bagan, Kumartuli and the Howrah Sporting often contended successfully against the best English teams." — Patu Mukherjee, CAB Silver Jubilee Souvenir
By the 1920s, Bengal's cricket had acquired considerable prominence. In 1922-23, a team comprising Bengali, Anglo-Indian, and English cricketers toured the Central Provinces, winning several matches. In 1926-27, the Calcutta Cricket Club was instrumental in bringing the MCC side led by Arthur Gilligan to India—a tour universally acknowledged to have transformed Indian cricket.
Finally, in a meeting held on February 3, 1928, presided over by the President of the Calcutta Cricket Club, it was agreed that the Cricket Association of Bengal and Assam should be formed. Initially, the framework gave numerical superiority to European members in the working committee, a structure that would remain until the early 1940s when the association evolved into a more representative body.