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The Life Cycle of a Cult is often defined by clear stages.

1. The Big Idea

A dominant personality or figureheads present an innovative concept that promises a cure for alienated and vulnerable people.

And so it goes. Plans are in motion to challenge the establishment overseas. Tensions are rising. Smoke is rising from within. A lone figure, exposed, shivering, the phrase ATTACKING MINDSET written on his body as a statement, has stumbled from the field and is taken aside under a blanket towards an inconclusive loan stint elsewhere.

Do you recall the start, when optimism reigned? The days of Bazball 1.0, of pure instinct.

2. Initial Adoration

Team architects promise a fresh beginning, optimism ahead, support, redemption among a group who all believe in the method.

How did it feel initially? Players celebrating enjoying success. Body art. Muscles. Determination. Elite male wellness energy. Oh sure, England’s players often say Bazball doesn’t actually exist, which is funny since it’s not recognized, what was that spectacle?

However, everyone understands what it is. It’s Harry Brook executing a stroke so outrageous it defies description. It’s the adrenaline of the leader in his final form, an expression conveying: thoughtful warrior, rugged appearance, natural look, genuinely raw you wouldn’t be surprised to notice and find him positioned in the field shirtless holding a fish.

It’s the opener still being allowed to talk in press conferences, out there looking like a cheerful animal formally attired, saying stuff like we are actively deconstructing the orange. Indeed, the energy, initially, was uplifting.

3. The Growth Phase

Development stage. Cohesion maintained by rote learning of key phrases. These principles can appear contradictory as a test of “true belief”.

Is it just me? The backlash, the anger, the disappointment following the initial loss feels overblown, overdone. The performance was poor during the match, as is typical there. They were savaged while bowling in a short span when tactics failed, manipulated by Travis Head batting like England but better, adaptive to conditions, a performer excelling with aura.

Currently, we see the pile-on, the rage, the perception of the team as a disgrace. The feeling seems to be that defeat must be total, they should be dismantled, to be scoured, obliterated, overwhelmed by the vengeful purity of the pace attack, the simple basics of Scott Boland, marking achievements humbly similar to getting a nice new fishing rod. What will this do to them?

4. The Backlash Phase

Issues emerge because of mistakes. Yet, mistakes are denied. It starts to feed on hostility externally.

Ultimately, half a week out the next match, we have now reached an intriguing moment in the journey of this approach. England could quite easily win overseas in a blur of adrenal disruption. Probably, defeat could come swiftly. In case of defeat it feels like we may see the death cult phase.

Prior to that, a couple of points to note about this. In the past, during the initial excitement, of passion and hope, an piece was published suggesting Bazball was a cult. There was outrage, which demonstrated because everyone knows a method to show something definitely isn’t a cult is when its acolytes respond with anger objecting to the questioning of the philosophy.

Recent events recently is just as interesting. Opposition to the style is now the trend. Online outrage is widespread, disappointed commentators, pictures of upset travelling fans disappointed by the short match, like a room full of people wanting fairness.

On the other hand, exists the larger scene of the host’s complex ingrained annoyance at these weirdly passive-aggressive buccaneers, claiming, hey, that thing you love and have fostered and nurtured to distinguish yourselves from others, well, it’s all a bit of a gag after all.

Here lies the truth. All movements are similar. The style was a trend because cricket is a cult. In fact, English cricket has always been a cult, a circle, a garden party, an insular community with two hundred years of opaque and ritualistic cult history behind it. Historically, this was where influence is guarded. It’s the British pastime of England, the pioneering brand. And notably, Britain is itself a cult, a series of esoteric hierarchies, a place that literally still has a king.

The team have been isolated in this system for years. Attempting to break free, to foster positivity, they are just repeating their past, forming a new circle, a limited community, however with a new team and a leader encouraging individuality provided you conform.

Live where your feet are. Confront risks. Despite efforts, things stay similar.

Reflecting on this, now is the time to have some sympathy for the movement, to appreciate its good points, of which there are many. How to define it? Encouraging expression. Questioning traditions. Batting aggressively|Attacking with