Captain of 2004 U20 team
Mel is a schoolmaster at Loughborough Grammar school (teaching Mathematics) where he has taught pupils to play bridge and encouraged them to progress through the ranks so that there are now old boys from the school playing bridge in various parts of the country and also in the junior English and Welsh teams. He is a Grand master who has played bridge for 35 years, but most of his bridge time is now taken up with the junior squads.
Mel also works for the Open University as a Maths tutor and is actively involved in their Summer schools. He still has time for other hobbies. In particular, playing Go (which he has also introduced very successfully at school) and also gardening, especially looking after several ponds and caring for his substantial collection of rhododendrons.