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

1. The Big Idea

A dominant personality or figureheads present an innovative concept offering a panacea for struggling players.

And so it goes. They’re getting ready to confront the system overseas. Pressure is mounting. Signs of trouble appear from within. A lone figure, vulnerable, anxious, the phrase ATTACKING MINDSET smeared across his chest as a statement, has come staggering into view and is taken aside under a blanket for a temporary assignment elsewhere.

Do you ever miss the early days, when optimism reigned? The days of Bazball 1.0, of pure instinct.

2. Initial Adoration

Team architects offer a new start, hope for a future, support, salvation within a community with shared faith in the big idea.

What was this thing at first? A team united basking in glory. Ink. Muscles. Jawlines. Elite male wellness energy. Of course, The team will claim they don’t use the label, ironically because if it doesn’t exist, what exactly did I just watch?

But we know the concept. It’s the batsman attempting a move so depraved it has to be pixelated. It’s the excitement of Ben Stokes in his final form, a demeanor suggesting: thoughtful warrior, beard made of wood, natural look, truly contemporary you half-expect to notice and notice he’s fielding on the ground bare-chested and cradling a wild salmon.

It’s the batsman still being allowed addressing the media, resembling a joyful figure smartly dressed, uttering phrases such as we are actively deconstructing the orange. And yes, the energy, initially, was uplifting.

3. The Growth Phase

Growth phase. Unity enforced through repetition of the cult’s slogans. These principles are often illogical as a loyalty check.

Is it just me? The reaction, the fury, the feeling of letdown after the first Ashes Test defeat seems too strong, overdone. The batting collapsed in Perth, as they often do in Australia. They were dominated while bowling in a short span when tactics failed, carved around by the opponent imitating their style effectively, adjusting to the pitch, an athlete shining with a kind of light around him.

And now we have this the pile-on, the rage, the sense of English Test cricket as a disgrace. The opinion suggests that defeat must be total, they need to lose righteously, to be cleansed, flame-throwered, destroyed by the vengeful purity of the bowler’s action, the low-fi orthodoxies of the veteran, out there celebrating achievements humbly as if receiving a rewarding prize. What will this do to them?

4. The Backlash Phase

Challenges surface because of mistakes. But the cult cannot admit errors. It begins to thrive on anger towards critics.

Ultimately, half a week out the upcoming game, we have now reached an intriguing moment in the journey of this approach. They might succeed in the next Test in a blur of adrenal disruption. Alternatively, they could lose just as quickly. And if they do lose it seems we could be witnessing the decline.

Ahead of this, there are two things to consider regarding this. More than two years ago, at the start, of passion and hope, an piece was published labeling it a movement. People were very angry, which proved the point because everyone knows how to confirm something definitely isn’t a cult is when its acolytes react defensively objecting to the questioning of the beliefs.

Recent events recently are fascinating. It seems that hating Bazball is now the trend. Online outrage is widespread, angry English pundits, pictures of upset followers overseas cheated out of three days of cricket, similar to timeshare owners seeking justice.

On the other hand, we have the wider backdrop of the host’s complex ingrained annoyance with the aggressive tourists, claiming, hey, that thing you love and have developed to distinguish yourselves from others, it’s just a joke after all.

Here lies the truth. All movements are similar. Bazball was a cult because cricket is a cult. Or at least, English cricket has always been a cult, a circle, a garden party, a closed world with two hundred years of ceremonial past defining it. It has long been a place where power and access are hoarded. It’s the imperial sport of the British, the original sports washers. And guess what, the nation has its own culture, a series of esoteric hierarchies, a monarchy still exists.

The team have been sealed up in this system since childhood. Attempting to break free, to build a better atmosphere, they are mirroring their past, building another enclosure, a closed circle, but doing it this time with 15 cool guys and a coach who wants you to be yourself as long as yourself is quite a lot like myself.

Focus on the moment. Confront risks. However much you change, things stay similar.

Considering this, it is perhaps the moment to have some sympathy for the approach, to appreciate its good points, which are significant. What is Bazball? Creating a sense of freedom. Challenging orthodoxies. Batting aggressively|Attacking with