A new partnership between the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the University of Gloucestershire (UoG) has been announced, which is to provide elite coaching courses.

The organisations - working with higher education development unit Nexus - have unveiled a validated programme of postgraduate-level study for coaches working at the highest level. Offering a combination of work-based learning and academic studies, the course will offer a progression route into the final year of a Masters degree, completed through a dissertation.

Individuals who complete the programme will receive both a Postgraduate Diploma in Personal and Professional Development and the United Kingdom Coaching Certificate Level 4 Award in Coaching Cricket. The ECB's team of tutors will deliver the course, supported by UoG senior lecturer in sport and exercise psychology Dr Stewart Cotterill.

ECB head of elite coach development Gordon Lord said: "This represents a major step forward in the development of coaching as a profession."