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The Evolution of a Cult is often marked by specific steps.

1. The Grand Vision

A dominant personality or leaders propose a revolutionary approach offering a cure for struggling players.

So here we are. Preparations are underway to storm the compound overseas. The gunships are circling. Signs of trouble appear from within. A lone figure, exposed, shivering, the phrase ATTACKING MINDSET smeared across his chest as a symbol, has come staggering into view and is taken aside with discretion towards an inconclusive loan stint elsewhere.

Do you recall the early days, when everything was fresh? The initial phase, of uninhibited aggression.

2. Love-Bombing

Movement founders offer a new start, a brighter tomorrow, camaraderie, success within a community with shared faith in the method.

What did it represent at first? Players celebrating enjoying success. Tattoos. Muscles. Focus. Elite male wellness energy. Admittedly, The team often say they don’t use the label, ironically as it’s denied, what exactly did I just watch?

Yet it’s clear its essence. It’s the batsman attempting a move so depraved it defies description. It’s the adrenaline of the leader in his final form, a demeanor suggesting: thoughtful warrior, beard made of wood, untamed style, genuinely raw you almost imagine to look down and see him playing in the field bare-chested embracing nature.

It’s Ben Duckett often seen to talk in press conferences, out there looking like a happy little woodland creature in a waistcoat, expressing thoughts like we are actively deconstructing the orange. And yes, the atmosphere, for a significant period, was entirely positive.

3. The Growth Phase

Building period. Togetherness strengthened through repetition of the cult’s slogans. These beliefs are often illogical as a test of “true belief”.

Am I alone? The reaction, the fury, the feeling of letdown post-defeat appears excessive, overdone. England batted badly on the field, as history shows. They were dominated in the field for a couple of hours as the bowling and captaincy fell apart, manipulated by the opponent imitating their style effectively, adjusting to the pitch, an athlete shining with brilliance.

Now there is the attacks, the anger, the perception of the team as a kind of abomination. The consensus is that defeat must be total, they must be humbled, to be cleansed, destroyed, defeated by the vengeful purity of the pace attack, the low-fi orthodoxies of Scott Boland, marking achievements modestly similar to getting a nice new fishing rod. What will this do to them?

4. The Backlash Phase

Issues emerge due to setbacks. Yet, mistakes are denied. It turns to hostility externally.

The fact remains, approaching the next match, we have now reached a critical juncture in the journey of this movement. Victory is possible overseas in a blur of adrenal disruption. More likely, defeat could come swiftly. Should they fail it seems we really might be entering the final stage.

Ahead of this, a couple of points to note regarding this. More than two years ago, back in those heady early days, of passion and hope, I wrote an article suggesting Bazball was a cult. People were very angry, which was helpful because everyone knows a method to show lack of cult status is if supporters 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 has now become the cult. We have a uniformly angry internet, angry English pundits, images of frustrated followers overseas cheated out of three days of cricket, reminiscent of timeshare owners seeking justice.

Meanwhile, we have the wider backdrop of Australia’s more nuanced ingrained annoyance at these weirdly passive-aggressive buccaneers, stating, your cherished traditions and have fostered and nurtured to distinguish yourselves culturally from us, well, it’s all a bit of a gag in the end old boy.

Here lies the truth. All movements are similar. The approach was a phenomenon because cricket is a cult. In fact, the sport in England is closed, a group, a garden party, a restricted environment with a long history of opaque and ritualistic cult history behind it. This has always been where influence is guarded. It’s the imperial sport of the nation, the early image-makers. And surprisingly, Britain is itself a cult, a system of unknown levels, a royal family remains.

England’s cricketers have been sealed up in this system from a young age. Seeking change, to build a better atmosphere, they are just repeating their upbringing, building another enclosure, a closed circle, but now with a modern squad and a mentor promoting authenticity as long as yourself is quite a lot like myself.

Live where your feet are. Embrace challenges. However much you change, you remain stuck.

With this mind, now is the time to offer compassion for Bazball, to recognize its positives, of which there are many. What is Bazball? Encouraging expression. Questioning traditions. Batting aggressively|Attacking with