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The Journey of a Cult is often marked by clear stages.

1. The Big Idea

A dominant personality or coaches propose a new and transcendent idea pledging a panacea for alienated and vulnerable people.

And so it goes. Preparations are underway to challenge the establishment down in Brisbane. Tensions are rising. Smoke is rising from within. An isolated player, naked, nervous, the slogan POSITIVE INTENT written on his body as a symbol, has stumbled from the field and is removed in secrecy to a different team in county cricket.

Do you ever miss the beginning, when optimism reigned? The days of Bazball 1.0, of Bazball without brains.

2. Initial Adoration

Cult leaders offer a reboot, a brighter tomorrow, support, salvation within a community who all believe in the philosophy.

What was this thing at first? Just men on a balcony basking in glory. Body art. Forearms. Focus. Elite male wellness energy. Oh sure, England’s players insist Bazball doesn’t actually exist, which is funny as it’s denied, what did we see?

But we know what it is. It’s the batsman playing a shot so unconventional it defies description. It’s the excitement of the captain in ultimate mode, an expression conveying: focused titan, strong features, untamed style, truly contemporary you half-expect to notice and see him playing at mid-off shirtless embracing nature.

It’s Ben Duckett still being allowed to talk in press conferences, resembling a happy little woodland creature formally attired, uttering phrases such as we are actively deconstructing the orange. Certainly, the atmosphere, for quite a long time, was uplifting.

3. Expansion Period

Growth phase. Unity enforced through repetition of mantras. These principles may seem irrational as a loyalty check.

Is it just me? The criticism, the fury, the feeling of letdown following the initial loss appears excessive, unwarranted. The batting collapsed during the match, as is typical there. They were dominated in the field for a couple of hours as the bowling and captaincy fell apart, outplayed by the opponent playing aggressively but smarter, adaptive to conditions, a man playing with aura.

Now there is the pile-on, the anger, the view of the sport as a failure. The consensus is that England don’t just need to lose, they should be dismantled, to be purged, flame-throwered, defeated via traditional methods of Mitchell Starc’s movements, the simple basics of the veteran, marking achievements modestly as if receiving a pleasant gift. What will this do to them?

4. External Conflict

Challenges surface because of mistakes. Yet, mistakes are denied. It turns to hatred of the outside world.

The fact remains, approaching the next match, we are at a delicious point of tension in the journey of this approach. England could quite easily win overseas through aggressive play. Alternatively, failure may follow. And if they do lose it feels like we could be witnessing the final stage.

Before that happens, several aspects to note on the topic. In the past, at the start, of light and heat, I wrote an article suggesting Bazball was a cult. There was outrage, which proved the point because everyone knows the best way of proving lack of cult status is when its acolytes send hundreds of furiously one-eyed messages objecting to the questioning of the philosophy.

The developments recently is just as interesting. It seems that hating Bazball is now the trend. We have a uniformly angry internet, angry English pundits, pictures of upset travelling fans cheated out of three days of cricket, reminiscent of people wanting fairness.

On the other hand, we have the wider backdrop of the opponent’s mixed deep-seated frustration with the aggressive tourists, out there saying, the methods you value and have developed as one way of separating yourself culturally from us, it’s just a joke in the end old boy.

Here lies the truth. All movements are similar. The style was a trend as the game has its own culture. Or at least, the team has long been exclusive, a clique, an elite gathering, an insular community with centuries of ceremonial past defining it. This has always been a place where power and access are hoarded. It’s the colonial game of England, the early image-makers. And notably, the country is a phenomenon, a structure of hidden ranks, a royal family remains.

The players have been sealed up within this world from a young age. In trying to escape from it, to foster positivity, they are just repeating their past, creating another a bubble, an exclusive group, but doing it this time with a new team and a mentor promoting authenticity as long as yourself is quite a lot like myself.

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

With this mind, now is the time to have some sympathy for Bazball, to appreciate its good points, that are numerous. What does it represent? Creating a sense of freedom. Questioning traditions. Batting aggressively|Attacking with