🔗 Share this article

The Journey of a Cult can be characterized by clear stages.

1. The Big Idea

A dominant personality or figureheads introduce a new and transcendent idea pledging a solution for alienated and vulnerable people.

And so it goes. Plans are in motion to storm the compound in Australia. Pressure is mounting. Conflict emerges from the out-houses. An isolated player, exposed, nervous, the phrase ATTACKING MINDSET written on his body as a statement, has emerged from the field and is being led away in secrecy to a different team elsewhere.

Do you ever miss the beginning, when the world was still young? The initial phase, of uninhibited aggression.

2. Love-Bombing

Movement founders promise a reboot, hope for a future, love, redemption among a group with shared faith in the big idea.

How did it feel at first? Just men on a balcony basking in glory. Ink. Forearms. Jawlines. Confident masculinity. Of course, The team often say Bazball doesn’t actually exist, ironically because if it doesn’t exist, what did we see?

Yet it’s clear what it is. It’s Harry Brook executing a stroke so depraved it’s beyond belief. It’s the adrenaline of Ben Stokes in ultimate mode, a demeanor suggesting: focused titan, strong features, natural look, truly contemporary you half-expect to glance over and notice he’s fielding on the ground shirtless embracing nature.

It’s Ben Duckett still being allowed addressing the media, out there looking like a cheerful animal formally attired, uttering phrases such as we’re breaking down traditions. And yes, the vibe, for quite a long time, was entirely positive.

3. A New Life

Development stage. Unity enforced via memorization of the cult’s slogans. These beliefs can appear contradictory as a test of “true belief”.

Is it just me? The reaction, the fury, the sense of betrayal post-defeat seems too strong, too much. England batted badly during the match, as they often do in Australia. They were savaged in the field during a brief period as the bowling and captaincy fell apart, outplayed by the opponent batting like England but better, adjusting to the pitch, a performer excelling with aura.

Currently, we see the attacks, the frustration, the sense of English Test cricket as a kind of abomination. The feeling seems to be that defeat must be total, they must be humbled, to be purged, obliterated, destroyed through sheer skill of the pace attack, the low-fi orthodoxies of the bowler, out there celebrating achievements with a bashful smile like he’s just been given a pleasant gift. How will they respond?

4. External Conflict

Challenges surface because of mistakes. But the cult cannot admit errors. It starts to feed on hatred of the outside world.

The fact remains, a few days before from the second Test, we’ve entered an intriguing moment in the story of this thing. They might succeed in the next Test through aggressive play. More likely, they could lose just as quickly. And if they do lose it appears we could be witnessing the decline.

Ahead of this, there are two things to consider on the topic. Previously, back in those heady early days, of optimism and energy, an piece was published labeling it a movement. Criticism followed, which proved the point as it’s known a method to show something definitely isn’t a cult is if supporters send hundreds of furiously one-eyed messages objecting to the questioning of its truths.

Recent events in the last few days are equally notable. Opposition to the style is now the trend. Online outrage is widespread, angry English pundits, images of frustrated supporters abroad disappointed by the short match, like a room full of people wanting fairness.

Conversely, we have the wider backdrop of the host’s complex ingrained annoyance at these weirdly passive-aggressive buccaneers, claiming, the methods you value and have fostered and nurtured as one way of separating yourself culturally from us, it’s not serious after all.

And this is the real point. All movements are similar. The style was a trend as the game has its own culture. Or at least, the team has long been exclusive, a clique, a private event, a closed world with a long history of tradition and mystery defining it. It has long been where entry is limited. It’s the imperial sport of the British, the pioneering brand. And guess what, Britain is itself a cult, a structure of hidden ranks, a place that literally still has a king.

The team have been sealed up in this environment from a young age. Attempting to break free, to build a better atmosphere, they are simply replicating their upbringing, building another enclosure, an exclusive group, however with a new team and a coach who wants you to be yourself if you fit the mold.

Focus on the moment. Confront risks. But no matter how fast and far you run, you remain stuck.

Considering this, it might be appropriate to have some sympathy for the movement, to appreciate its good points, that are numerous. What is Bazball? Creating a sense of freedom. Defying norms. Batting aggressively|Attacking with