🔗 Share this article

The Journey of a Cult can be characterized by specific steps.

1. The Core Concept

A charismatic leader or coaches introduce a new and transcendent idea offering a panacea for struggling players.

So here we are. Plans are in motion to confront the system in Australia. The gunships are circling. Smoke is rising from within. One individual, exposed, nervous, the phrase ATTACKING MINDSET written on his body as a statement, has come staggering into view and is removed in secrecy towards an inconclusive loan stint at Derbyshire.

Do you recall the beginning, when everything was fresh? The initial phase, of Bazball without brains.

2. Love-Bombing

Team architects promise a reboot, optimism ahead, camaraderie, success within a community united in belief in the method.

How did it feel initially? A team united enjoying success. Body art. Muscles. Determination. Elite male wellness energy. Oh sure, The team will claim Bazball doesn’t actually exist, ironically as it’s denied, what did we see?

However, everyone understands its essence. It’s the player executing a stroke so unconventional it defies description. It’s the adrenaline of the captain at his peak, a demeanor suggesting: pensive Nordic god, strong features, hair woven from beaver hide, truly contemporary you half-expect to look down and see him playing on the ground shirtless holding a fish.

It’s the batsman still being allowed to talk in press conferences, appearing as a happy little woodland creature smartly dressed, saying stuff like we are actively deconstructing the orange. And yes, the energy, for a significant period, was entirely positive.

3. A New Life

Growth phase. Cohesion maintained by rote learning of the cult’s slogans. These principles can appear contradictory as a loyalty check.

Is it just me? The criticism, the outrage, the feeling of letdown after the first Ashes Test defeat seems too strong, overdone. The batting collapsed on the field, as they often do in Australia. They were dominated while bowling in a short span as plans unraveled, carved around by Travis Head batting like England but better, adaptive to conditions, a man playing with brilliance.

Now there is 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 must be humbled, to be purged, destroyed, defeated via traditional methods of the bowler’s action, the simple basics of the bowler, marking successes with a bashful smile similar to getting a nice new fishing rod. What will this do to them?

4. External Conflict

Issues emerge because of mistakes. However, faults are ignored. It turns to hatred of the outside world.

In truth, a few days before the upcoming game, we are at a delicious point of tension in the lifespan of this movement. England could quite easily win in Brisbane in a blur of adrenal disruption. More likely, they could lose just as quickly. In case of defeat it appears we could be witnessing the final stage.

Ahead of this, a couple of points to note about this. Previously, during the initial excitement, of optimism and energy, an piece was published calling it a phenomenon. People were very angry, which was helpful as it’s known how to confirm lack of cult status is should followers send hundreds of furiously one-eyed messages objecting to the questioning of the philosophy.

Recent events recently is just as interesting. Criticism of the approach is now the trend. Social media is furious, angry English pundits, shots of angry middle-aged followers overseas disappointed by the short match, reminiscent of people wanting fairness.

On the other hand, we have the wider backdrop of the opponent’s mixed more culturally hard-wired exasperation with the aggressive tourists, claiming, hey, that thing you love and have honed as one way of separating yourself from others, it’s not serious in the end old boy.

This is the core issue. All movements are similar. The approach was a phenomenon since the sport itself is insular. Or rather, the sport in England is closed, a clique, a garden party, a closed world with a long history of opaque and ritualistic cult history defining it. It has long been where entry is limited. It’s the British pastime of England, the original sports washers. And guess what, Britain is itself a cult, a series of esoteric hierarchies, a monarchy still exists.

The team have been isolated in this environment since childhood. Seeking change, to build a better atmosphere, they are just repeating their upbringing, building another enclosure, a limited community, however with a modern squad and a coach promoting authenticity provided you conform.

Stay present. Run towards the danger. However much you change, you’re always basically in the same place.

With this mind, it is perhaps the moment to show understanding for the movement, to acknowledge its merits, of which there are many. What is Bazball? Promoting liberation. Questioning traditions. Batting aggressively|Attacking with