EPIC Risk Management has partnered with the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA), the representative body of past and present first-class cricketers in England and Wales, to provide customised gambling awareness educational programmes for the following groups across a four-year programme.

• Year 1 – All county academies and women’s regional teams.
• Year 2 – All county professional squads and rookie camp.
• Year 3 – All county academies, women’s regional teams and rookie camp.
• Year 4 – All county professional squads and rookie camp.

“We are delighted to continue our work with the Professional Cricketers’ Association,” Patrick Foster, Director of UK and Rest of the World at EPIC Risk Management, said.

“In 2021 we have been able to provide sessions for the county academies and women’s regional teams, conducting these sessions digitally during lockdown and more recently in person.

“The initial feedback from players has been really encouraging, with the squads showing great interest in the vital message we’ve been delivering; they’ve asked plenty of pertinent questions and demonstrated a lot of understanding how important an issue it is.

“We’re particularly pleased to have been delivering these sessions to the women’s regional teams, which is an important step for all parties as the profile and reward of their competition grows. We’re delighted with this start and looking forward to extending our partnership into the future.”

Ian Thomas, Director of Member Services at the PCA, said: “We are delighted to expand our partnership with EPIC Risk Management in the first agreement of its kind. We have worked extensively with EPIC in the past and the quality of education delivery has always been of the highest standard, so we look forward to this partnership continuing in an official capacity for the next four years, including delivering education to women cricketers for the very first time.

“The welfare of our members is always our first priority, so it’s important that we make all professional cricketers, as well as academy players, aware of the mental health implications that recreational gambling can pose with assistance from EPIC Risk Management.”