KARACHI: Psychologist of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Moin-ul-Atiq has conducted workshops on anti-corruption education and mental toughness for national women’s cricket team that is about to leave for the tour of Ireland and England.

Moin, a former Pakistan international batsman, who has conducted several such workshops for cricketers in Pakistan over the years including the one arranged recently for men’s national U-19 team that is currently playing World Cup in Australia, first supervised a two-hour workshop for 18 national women cricketers on the subject of ‘corruption in cricket’ at Southend Club stadium, Karachi. This was his first assignment for the PCB which appointed him as ‘psychologist-cum-motivational speaker’.

In the first workshop held recently, Moin, who has obtained a Masters degree in sports management from the UK, gave a comprehensive lecture to the girls on corruption in cricket and its devastating consequences on a player’s professional career; and on how they can keep themselves away from different kinds of corruption (betting, match- and spot-fixing etc) in various circumstances.

The aim of the second workshop (a two-and-a-half exercise targeting mental toughness) was to help these players get long-term success in their game, and to make them maximise their success rate under demanding circumstances.

The areas which were highlighted during these workshops — based on sports psychology — include PCB’s anti-corruption code for players and players support personnel, devotion to national duty, moral values and realisation of short- and long-term success.

Coaches of the national women’s team — Mohtashim Rasheed (head coach) and Tahir Mahmood (deputy coach) — also attended these workshops.

Talking to Dawn, Mohtashim, regarding mental side of the game as highly significant, said: “Organisation of these workshops by the PCB is very fruitful for national women cricketers. The girls’ mental attitude has improved due to the newly instilled self-belief, and I hope the lectures given by Moin would help my players in giving their 100 per cent in contests against top teams.”

Thanking PCB’s Women Wing for arranging these workshops, national team’s vice-captain Nain Abidi said: “We have gained a lot from these workshops; and we now have extra motivation to perform against tough opponents to the best of our abilities.”