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The Life Cycle of a Cult is often marked by distinct phases.

1. The Core Concept

A dominant personality or figureheads introduce a revolutionary approach that promises a panacea for disconnected individuals.

So here we are. They’re getting ready to confront the system in Australia. The gunships are circling. Conflict emerges from within. One individual, naked, anxious, the slogan POSITIVE INTENT smeared across his chest in chicken blood, has come staggering from the field and is taken aside with discretion for a temporary assignment elsewhere.

Remember the early days, when the world was still young? The era of early Bazball, of uninhibited aggression.

2. The Honeymoon Phase

Team architects promise a reboot, optimism ahead, support, redemption among a group who all believe in the big idea.

How did it feel initially? Just men on a balcony feeling good. Tattoos. Forearms. Determination. Peak performance vibes. Admittedly, England’s players often say Bazball doesn’t actually exist, which is funny as it’s denied, what was that spectacle?

Yet it’s clear what it is. It’s Harry Brook playing a shot so depraved it has to be pixelated. It’s the adrenaline of Ben Stokes in ultimate mode, an expression conveying: thoughtful warrior, strong features, untamed style, so authentically Modern Savage you half-expect to look down and find him positioned on the ground stripped to the waist holding a fish.

It’s the opener still being allowed addressing the media, resembling a cheerful animal in a waistcoat, saying stuff like we’re breaking down traditions. Certainly, the energy, initially, was uplifting.

3. The Growth Phase

Building period. Togetherness strengthened through repetition of the cult’s slogans. These beliefs may seem irrational as a test of “true belief”.

Does anyone else feel? The reaction, the anger, the sense of betrayal following the initial loss appears excessive, too much. The performance was poor on the field, as is typical there. They were torn apart in the field during a brief period as the bowling and captaincy fell apart, manipulated by the opponent batting like England but better, adjusting to the pitch, an athlete shining with a kind of light around him.

Now there is the attacks, the anger, the view of the sport as a disgrace. The feeling seems to be that England don’t just need to lose, they must be humbled, to be scoured, flame-throwered, overwhelmed via traditional methods of Mitchell Starc’s movements, the simple basics of the bowler, marking achievements modestly as if receiving a rewarding prize. What will this do to them?

4. Hate Bonding

Challenges surface from failures in the plan. But the cult cannot admit errors. It turns to hostility externally.

In truth, half a week out the upcoming game, we are at a delicious point of tension in the story of this movement. England could quite easily win in Brisbane through aggressive play. More likely, defeat could come swiftly. And if they do lose it seems we could be witnessing the decline.

Prior to that, a couple of points to note about this. Previously, back in those heady early days, of optimism and energy, a column appeared suggesting Bazball was a cult. There was outrage, which proved the point since it’s clear a method to show lack of cult status is should followers send hundreds of furiously one-eyed messages rejecting criticism of its truths.

Recent events recently are equally notable. It seems that hating Bazball has turned into a movement. We have a uniformly angry internet, disappointed commentators, shots of angry middle-aged followers overseas cheated out of three days of cricket, similar to timeshare owners seeking justice.

Conversely, there is the broader context of the host’s complex ingrained annoyance with the aggressive tourists, claiming, your cherished traditions and have fostered and nurtured as part of your identity culturally from us, it’s not serious after all.

Here lies the truth. All movements are similar. The style was a trend because cricket is a cult. Or at least, the team has long been exclusive, a clique, a garden party, a closed world with centuries of tradition and mystery supporting it. This has always been a place where power and access are hoarded. It’s the colonial game of the nation, the pioneering brand. And guess what, the nation has its own culture, a system of unknown levels, a royal family remains.

The team have been enclosed within this world from a young age. Attempting to break free, to create a less brutal environment, they are mirroring their own experience, building another enclosure, an exclusive group, however with a new team and a leader promoting authenticity as long as yourself is quite a lot like myself.

Live where your feet are. Confront risks. However much you change, you remain stuck.

Reflecting on this, it is perhaps the moment to offer compassion for the approach, to acknowledge its merits, which are significant. What is Bazball? Promoting liberation. Questioning traditions. Batting aggressively|Attacking with