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The Journey of a Cult tends to be characterized by distinct phases.

1. The Grand Vision

A charismatic leader or leaders present a new and transcendent idea that promises a solution for struggling players.

And so it goes. Plans are in motion to challenge the establishment in Australia. Pressure is mounting. Smoke is rising from the out-houses. An isolated player, vulnerable, shivering, the slogan POSITIVE INTENT smeared across his chest as a statement, has stumbled into view and is removed under a blanket to a different team elsewhere.

Remember the beginning, when optimism reigned? The days of Bazball 1.0, of Bazball without brains.

2. The Honeymoon Phase

Team architects offer a fresh beginning, optimism ahead, love, salvation within a community who all believe in the big idea.

How did it feel initially? A team united enjoying success. Tattoos. Strength. Focus. Confident masculinity. Of course, The team will claim it’s not a real term, ironically as it’s denied, what did we see?

Yet it’s clear what it is. It’s Harry Brook executing a stroke so outrageous it’s beyond belief. It’s the adrenaline of the captain at his peak, an expression conveying: pensive Nordic god, beard made of wood, hair woven from beaver hide, genuinely raw you wouldn’t be surprised to notice and find him positioned at mid-off stripped to the waist and cradling a wild salmon.

It’s Ben Duckett continuing to have permission addressing the media, appearing as a joyful figure formally attired, uttering phrases such as we’re challenging norms. And yes, the atmosphere, initially, was only good energy.

3. Expansion Period

Development stage. Cohesion maintained via memorization of mantras. These beliefs can appear contradictory as a test of “true belief”.

Does anyone else feel? The reaction, the fury, the feeling of letdown post-defeat seems too strong, overdone. The performance was poor during the match, as they often do in Australia. They were dominated while bowling during a brief period when tactics failed, carved around by the batsman batting like England but better, adjusting to the pitch, a performer excelling with a kind of light around him.

And now we have this the attacks, the rage, the sense of English Test cricket as a failure. The feeling seems to be that losing isn’t enough, they need to lose righteously, to be purged, destroyed, defeated through sheer skill of the pace attack, the conventional tactics of Scott Boland, marking successes modestly similar to getting a nice new fishing rod. What impact will this have?

4. Hate Bonding

Challenges surface from failures in the plan. Yet, mistakes are denied. It starts to feed on hatred of the outside world.

Ultimately, a few days before the upcoming game, we’ve entered a critical juncture in the journey of this approach. England could quite easily win in the next Test through aggressive play. More likely, they could lose just as quickly. And if they do lose it seems we could be witnessing the death cult phase.

Ahead of this, there are two things to note on the topic. More than two years ago, back in those heady early days, of light and heat, an piece was published calling it a phenomenon. People were very angry, which was helpful as it’s known a method to show something definitely isn’t a cult is should followers send hundreds of furiously one-eyed messages rejecting criticism of the philosophy.

What has happened in the last few days is just as interesting. It seems that hating Bazball is now the trend. Online outrage is widespread, disappointed commentators, shots of angry middle-aged travelling fans disappointed by the short match, like a room full of people wanting fairness.

Meanwhile, exists the larger scene of the opponent’s mixed deep-seated frustration towards the unconventional visitors, out there saying, the methods you value and have honed as one way of separating yourself culturally from us, well, it’s all a bit of a gag ultimately.

Here lies the truth. It’s all cults. Bazball was a cult 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 supporting it. This has always been where influence is guarded. It’s the imperial sport of the British, the early image-makers. And guess what, the nation has its own culture, a system of unknown levels, a place that literally still has a king.

The team have been enclosed in this system from a young age. Seeking change, to foster positivity, they are just repeating their own experience, building another enclosure, a limited community, however with a modern squad and a leader who wants you to be yourself if you fit the mold.

Live where your feet are. Run towards the danger. Despite efforts, things stay similar.

With this mind, it is perhaps the moment to offer compassion for the movement, to acknowledge its merits, which are significant. What does it represent? Creating a sense of freedom. Questioning traditions. Batting aggressively|Attacking with