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The Evolution of a Cult tends to be defined by clear stages.

1. The Core Concept

A charismatic leader or figureheads present a new and transcendent idea that promises a panacea for alienated and vulnerable people.

So here we are. Plans are in motion to challenge the establishment down in Brisbane. Pressure is mounting. Smoke is rising from the out-houses. A lone figure, exposed, anxious, the phrase ATTACKING MINDSET written on his body as a statement, has come staggering into view and is removed with discretion to a different team elsewhere.

Do you recall the beginning, when everything was fresh? The era of early Bazball, of pure instinct.

2. The Honeymoon Phase

Cult leaders promise a new start, hope for a future, camaraderie, salvation within a community united in belief in the big idea.

What did it represent back then? Just men on a balcony feeling good. Tattoos. Forearms. Jawlines. Peak performance vibes. Admittedly, England’s players often say Bazball doesn’t actually exist, ironically because if it doesn’t exist, what exactly did I just watch?

However, everyone understands the concept. It’s the player executing a stroke so unconventional it’s beyond belief. It’s the thrill of Ben Stokes in his final form, a look that says: focused titan, rugged appearance, hair woven from beaver hide, truly contemporary you almost imagine to notice and find him positioned at mid-off bare-chested holding a fish.

It’s the opener often seen speaking publicly, out there looking like a joyful figure in a waistcoat, expressing thoughts like we are actively deconstructing the orange. Certainly, the atmosphere, for a significant period, was entirely positive.

3. The Growth Phase

Building period. Cohesion maintained through repetition of key phrases. These ideas may seem irrational to prove commitment.

Am I alone? The criticism, the outrage, the feeling of letdown post-defeat feels overblown, too much. The performance was poor on the field, as they often do in Australia. They were torn apart while bowling during a brief period when tactics failed, outplayed by Travis Head playing aggressively but smarter, adaptive to conditions, an athlete shining with brilliance.

Currently, we see the attacks, the anger, the view of the sport as a kind of abomination. The feeling seems to be that defeat must be total, they should be dismantled, to be cleansed, flame-throwered, overwhelmed by the vengeful purity of the pace attack, the low-fi orthodoxies of Scott Boland, out there celebrating achievements with a bashful smile similar to getting a nice new fishing rod. What will this do to them?

4. Hate Bonding

Issues emerge due to setbacks. However, faults are ignored. It turns to anger towards critics.

The fact remains, half a week out the upcoming game, we have now reached a critical juncture in the journey of this movement. England could quite easily win in Brisbane with bold tactics. Probably, failure may follow. In case of defeat it feels like we may see the death cult phase.

Ahead of this, a couple of points to note regarding this. In the past, at the start, of light and heat, an piece was published suggesting Bazball was a cult. There was outrage, which demonstrated because everyone knows a method to show lack of cult status is when its acolytes send hundreds of furiously one-eyed messages rejecting criticism of the beliefs.

What has happened recently are fascinating. It seems that hating Bazball is now the trend. Online outrage is widespread, disappointed commentators, pictures of upset supporters abroad missing out on play, similar to people wanting fairness.

On the other hand, we have the wider backdrop of the opponent’s mixed ingrained annoyance with the aggressive tourists, claiming, hey, that thing you love and have developed to distinguish yourselves culturally from us, it’s not serious in the end old boy.

This is the core issue. Everything is a cult. Bazball was a cult because cricket is a cult. In fact, the team has long been exclusive, a clique, a private event, a restricted environment with centuries of ceremonial past behind it. This has always been where influence is guarded. It’s the colonial game of the nation, the original sports washers. And surprisingly, Britain is itself a cult, a system of unknown levels, a monarchy still exists.

The team have been isolated in this environment from a young age. Attempting to break free, to foster positivity, they are simply replicating their own experience, building another enclosure, an exclusive group, but doing it this time with a modern squad and a leader encouraging individuality as long as yourself is quite a lot like myself.

Live where your feet are. Embrace challenges. But no matter how fast and far you run, things stay similar.

With this mind, it is perhaps the moment to offer compassion for the approach, to appreciate its good points, of which there are many. What does it represent? Promoting liberation. Questioning traditions. Batting aggressively|Attacking with