Northern Diamonds County Cricket Club Fees Funded MRes in Collaboration with the Carnegie School of Sport, Leeds Beckett University

Funding will consist of the UK full tuition fee for one year and a laptop will be provided.

Match day nutrition intakes of female cricket players in the domestic setting

Women’s cricket continues to grow and develop globally. Development in the UK has been promoted by the plans of the English Cricket Board (ECB) to increase the level of professionalism across the domestic format as part of the Inspiring generations strategy for 2020-2024. Currently, the Northern Diamonds have ten full time professional cricket contracts for their squad, allowing for these players to train and compete full time. During the 2022 season, the team competed in 8 50-over games. The 2023 season is predicted to include almost double the number of games in this format.

There is currently minimal research across the women’s game, including little to no understanding of the estimated energy requirements or nutrition/dietary intakes on competition days. The increased volume of games, increased training loads and greater focus on physical recovery will require players to have a better understanding of the demands of their games and ability to match this with their nutrition intakes.

The aims of this research project are 1) to quantify the food and fluid intake during home based 50-over games and 2) to estimate the energy expenditure on home based 50-over games. This project will aid players and staff to consider if players are fuelling and recovering in accordance with the volume and intensity played. The research will be used by the multi-disciplinary team in practice to reinforce the performance outcomes for the program.

This work will be aligned with the  Centre for Human Performance

Applicants are encouraged to discuss their proposals with the Sport and Exercise Nutrition project leads, Dr Debbie Smith, Dr Meghan Brown and Sarah Chantler

Burke, L. M. (2021). Nutritional approaches to counter performance constraints in high level sports competition. Experimental Physiology,106, 2304–2323. https://doi.org/10.1113/ep088188

Moore, D. R., Sygo, J., & Morton, J. P. (2022). Fuelling the female athlete: Carbohydrate and protein recommendations. European Journal of Sport Science, 22(5):684-696. https://doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2021.1922508

Mujika, I., & Burke, L. M. (2011). Nutrition in team sports. Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism, 57(2), 26–35. https://doi.org/10.1159/000322700

Noakes, T.D. and Durandt, J.J. (2000). Physiological requirements of cricket. Journal of Sports Sciences, 18(12), 919-929.

As part of your application, please provide a CV, cover letter and research proposal. The proposal should align to the above theme and include a brief literature review related to this project, with an outline of the studies that you would propose to the answer the aims of the MRes (maximum 5 pages single spaced).

We can only consider complete applications. The research degree application is complete once you have uploaded all of the following:

1. Your application form (include the project reference ND)
2. Your research proposal, statement of purpose and CV on the Research Proposal Template
3. Copies of your bachelors certificates, including transcripts
4. Copy of your IELTS (or equivalent) certificate (if applicable) further information can be found on our Graduate School FAQs
5. Copy of your passport

Email the documentation above) to researchadmissions@leedsbeckett.ac.uk 

The deadline for applications is midnight on 1st January 2023

Candidates must be available for interview on 20th January 2023