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The Journey of a Phenomenon is often characterized by clear stages.

1. The Big Idea

An inspiring figure or coaches propose a new and transcendent idea offering a cure for alienated and vulnerable people.

And so it goes. Preparations are underway to challenge the establishment overseas. Tensions are rising. Smoke is rising from the out-houses. A lone figure, vulnerable, shivering, the slogan POSITIVE INTENT written on his body in chicken blood, has come staggering through the lines and is being led away with discretion for a temporary assignment elsewhere.

Remember the beginning, when the world was still young? The days of Bazball 1.0, of Bazball without brains.

2. Initial Adoration

Movement founders offer a new start, hope for a future, camaraderie, redemption together who all believe in the method.

What was this thing at first? Just men on a balcony enjoying success. Ink. Muscles. Jawlines. Confident masculinity. Admittedly, The team often say it’s not a real term, which is funny since it’s not recognized, what was that spectacle?

But we know what it is. It’s the batsman executing a stroke so depraved it defies description. It’s the thrill of the captain at his peak, an expression conveying: focused titan, beard made of wood, hair woven from beaver hide, truly contemporary you wouldn’t be surprised to look down and find him positioned in the field bare-chested and cradling a wild salmon.

It’s the batsman still being allowed addressing the media, appearing as a joyful figure in a waistcoat, expressing thoughts like we are actively deconstructing the orange. Indeed, the energy, for a significant period, was only good energy.

3. Expansion Period

Growth phase. Cohesion maintained via memorization of key phrases. These ideas can appear contradictory as a test of “true belief”.

Is it just me? The backlash, the anger, the sense of betrayal after the first Ashes Test defeat feels overblown, too much. England batted badly in Perth, as they often do in Australia. They were savaged in the field for a couple of hours when tactics failed, manipulated by the batsman playing aggressively but smarter, adjusting to the pitch, a man playing with aura.

Now there is the attacks, the anger, the sense of English Test cricket as a disgrace. The consensus is that England don’t just need to lose, they need to lose righteously, to be purged, flame-throwered, overwhelmed via traditional methods of Mitchell Starc’s movements, the conventional tactics of the veteran, seen enjoying successes with a bashful smile similar to getting a nice new fishing rod. What impact will this have?

4. Hate Bonding

Problems arise due to setbacks. However, faults are ignored. It starts to feed on anger towards critics.

The fact remains, a few days before the upcoming game, we are at a critical juncture in the story of this approach. They might succeed in Brisbane in a blur of adrenal disruption. Alternatively, they could lose just as quickly. In case of defeat it seems we really might be entering the decline.

Prior to that, several aspects worth saying about this. In the past, during the initial excitement, of light and heat, I wrote an article suggesting Bazball was a cult. There was outrage, which was helpful since it’s clear a method to show lack of cult status is when its acolytes send hundreds of furiously one-eyed messages rejecting criticism of the philosophy.

What has happened lately are fascinating. It seems that hating Bazball has now become the cult. We have a uniformly angry internet, critical analysts, shots of angry middle-aged supporters abroad missing out on play, reminiscent of timeshare owners seeking justice.

On the other hand, we have the wider backdrop of the opponent’s mixed more culturally hard-wired exasperation at these weirdly passive-aggressive buccaneers, claiming, your cherished traditions and have fostered and nurtured to distinguish yourselves from others, well, it’s all a bit of a gag after all.

Here lies the truth. Everything is a cult. Bazball was a cult as the game has its own culture. In fact, English cricket has always been a cult, a group, a private event, a restricted environment with two hundred years of opaque and ritualistic cult history supporting it. Historically, this was where influence is guarded. It’s the imperial sport of the nation, the early image-makers. And notably, Britain is itself a cult, a system of unknown levels, a place that literally still has a king.

The team have been sealed up in this environment since childhood. Attempting to break free, to foster positivity, they are mirroring their upbringing, creating another a bubble, a limited community, but now with a modern squad and a leader promoting authenticity as long as yourself is quite a lot like myself.

Focus on the moment. Confront risks. But no matter how fast and far you run, things stay similar.

Reflecting on this, it might be appropriate to have some sympathy for Bazball, to appreciate its good points, which are significant. How to define it? Creating a sense of freedom. Questioning traditions. Batting aggressively|Attacking with