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The Life Cycle of a Cult can be marked by clear stages.

1. The Big Idea

An inspiring figure or coaches introduce an innovative concept offering a solution for disconnected individuals.

And so it goes. Plans are in motion to challenge the establishment down in Brisbane. The gunships are circling. Signs of trouble appear from within. A lone figure, naked, anxious, the words HIGH RELEASE POINT smeared across his chest as a statement, has stumbled through the lines and is removed under a blanket towards an inconclusive loan stint in county cricket.

Do you ever miss the early days, when everything was fresh? The era of early Bazball, of Bazball without brains.

2. The Honeymoon Phase

Movement founders promise a fresh beginning, hope for a future, love, success within a community united in belief in the method.

What did it represent back then? Players celebrating basking in glory. Ink. Forearms. Determination. Confident masculinity. Of course, The team will claim Bazball doesn’t actually exist, which is funny as it’s denied, what was that spectacle?

However, everyone understands its essence. It’s Harry Brook attempting a move so depraved it defies description. It’s the excitement of the leader in ultimate mode, a look that says: pensive Nordic god, beard made of wood, untamed style, genuinely raw you half-expect to look down and see him playing in the field stripped to the waist holding a fish.

It’s the batsman often seen speaking publicly, appearing as a happy little woodland creature formally attired, saying stuff like we’re challenging norms. Certainly, the energy, initially, was entirely positive.

3. Expansion Period

Development stage. Cohesion maintained through repetition of the cult’s slogans. These principles can appear contradictory as a test of “true belief”.

Am I alone? The criticism, the anger, the sense of betrayal following the initial loss seems too strong, too much. England batted badly in Perth, as is typical there. They were dominated while bowling during a brief period when tactics failed, manipulated by the batsman imitating their style effectively, adaptive to conditions, a performer excelling with a kind of light around him.

And now we have this the pile-on, the anger, the sense of English Test cricket as a kind of abomination. The consensus is that England don’t just need to lose, they need to lose righteously, to be cleansed, flame-throwered, destroyed by the vengeful purity of the bowler’s action, the conventional tactics of the bowler, seen enjoying his wickets humbly similar to getting a nice new fishing rod. What will this do to them?

4. The Backlash Phase

Problems arise from failures in the plan. However, faults are ignored. It starts to feed on hatred of the outside world.

Ultimately, approaching from the second Test, we are at a delicious point of tension in the journey of this thing. England could quite easily win in Brisbane in a blur of adrenal disruption. Probably, they could lose just as quickly. Should they fail it appears we could be witnessing the final stage.

Prior to that, several aspects to note regarding this. More than two years ago, at the start, of light and heat, an piece was published calling it a phenomenon. People were very angry, which proved the point since it’s clear the best way of proving lack of cult status is if supporters react defensively objecting to the questioning of its truths.

Recent events recently are equally notable. Opposition to the style is now the trend. We have a uniformly angry internet, angry English pundits, pictures of upset followers overseas cheated out of three days of cricket, like a room full of timeshare owners seeking justice.

Meanwhile, we have the wider backdrop of the host’s complex deep-seated frustration with the aggressive tourists, claiming, hey, that thing you love and have honed to distinguish yourselves culturally from us, well, it’s all a bit of a gag after all.

This is the core issue. Everything is a cult. The approach was a phenomenon since the sport itself is insular. Or rather, the sport in England is closed, a group, an elite gathering, a restricted environment with two hundred years of opaque and ritualistic cult history defining it. Historically, this was a place where power and access are hoarded. It’s the British pastime of England, the pioneering brand. And surprisingly, the country is a phenomenon, a structure of hidden ranks, a place that literally still has a king.

The team have been enclosed in this environment since childhood. Attempting to break free, to foster positivity, they are just repeating their past, building another enclosure, a limited community, but now with 15 cool guys and a coach promoting authenticity provided you conform.

Focus on the moment. Confront risks. Despite efforts, you remain stuck.

Reflecting on this, it is perhaps the moment to have some sympathy for the approach, to appreciate its good points, of which there are many. What is Bazball? Creating a sense of freedom. Questioning traditions. Batting aggressively|Attacking with