ABSTRACT

This study aims to examine these physiological components in women cricketers at different competitive levels to inform training strategies. The study involved 90 women cricketers, purposively selected from three competitive levels: university level (n=30), state level (n=30), and divisional level (n=30). The primary variables assessed in this study included body composition and vital capacity with the independent variable being the competitive level of the cricketers: university, state, and divisional batter. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data, and a One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was applied to compare the means across the three groups. Post-hoc Tukey HSD tests were conducted to identify specific differences, with all analyses performed at the 0.05 significance level. For body composition, University bowlers have a descriptive statistic of (24.1633 + 1.70101), State bowlers have a mean of (22.0433 + 2.42312), and Division bowlers have the highest mean of (27.7267 + 2.50585). In terms of body composition for batter, University batter have a mean of (22.6360 + 2.14752), State batter have a mean of (21.1800 + 2.58155), and Division batter show the highest mean of (24.6333 + 3.24285). For vital capacity, University bowlers have a mean of (4.6867 + 0.50154), State bowlers have the same mean of (4.6867 + 0.50154), and Division bowlers have a lower mean of (4.0500 + 0.81484). For batter, University batter have a mean vital capacity of (4.7700 + 0.50457), State batter have a mean of 5.0367 (SD = 0.43746), and Division batter have a mean of (4.4467 + 0.51977). These values reflect the physiological differences in body composition and vital capacity across the three competitive levels. The results reveal significant differences in body composition and vital capacity across the University, State, and Division groups, with Division athletes outperforming University and State athletes. Division bowlers exhibit the highest body composition and vital capacity, while Division batter have lower body composition due to specialized endurance and agility training. The lack of significant differences between University and State groups suggests similar levels of conditioning. These findings align with existing research, highlighting the role of intensive training at higher competition levels in enhancing physical performance.

Key words: Vital capacity, Body composition, Batter and Bowlers.