🔗 Share this article

The Life Cycle of a Cult tends to be marked by clear stages.

1. The Big Idea

A charismatic leader or figureheads present an innovative concept that promises a cure for disconnected individuals.

Thus we find ourselves. Plans are in motion to storm the compound down in Brisbane. The gunships are circling. Smoke is rising from within. A lone figure, naked, nervous, the slogan POSITIVE INTENT displayed prominently in chicken blood, has emerged through the lines and is removed with discretion for a temporary assignment elsewhere.

Do you recall the early days, when everything was fresh? The era of early Bazball, of Bazball without brains.

2. Love-Bombing

Movement founders offer a reboot, a brighter tomorrow, love, salvation within a community who all believe in the big idea.

What was this thing back then? Just men on a balcony enjoying success. Ink. Strength. Determination. Confident masculinity. Oh sure, The squad insist it’s not a real term, which is funny because if it doesn’t exist, what did we see?

But we know the concept. It’s the batsman attempting a move so depraved it defies description. It’s the adrenaline of Ben Stokes at his peak, an expression conveying: focused titan, rugged appearance, untamed style, so authentically Modern Savage you wouldn’t be surprised to glance over and see him playing on the ground bare-chested embracing nature.

It’s the batsman continuing to have permission addressing the media, resembling a happy little woodland creature formally attired, uttering phrases such as we’re breaking down traditions. Indeed, the vibe, for a significant period, was only good energy.

3. Expansion Period

Development stage. Unity enforced via memorization of key phrases. These ideas are often illogical to prove commitment.

Am I alone? The reaction, the anger, the disappointment after the first Ashes Test defeat seems too strong, too much. The performance was poor during the match, as history shows. They were torn apart in the field during a brief period as plans unraveled, manipulated by the opponent playing aggressively but smarter, adjusting to the pitch, a man playing with a kind of light around him.

Now there is the pile-on, the anger, the view of the sport as a disgrace. The feeling seems to be that England don’t just need to lose, they should be dismantled, to be scoured, flame-throwered, overwhelmed via traditional methods of Mitchell Starc’s movements, the conventional tactics of Scott Boland, marking successes humbly similar to getting a rewarding prize. How will they respond?

4. The Backlash Phase

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

Ultimately, approaching the upcoming game, we have now reached an intriguing moment in the lifespan of this thing. England could quite easily win overseas in a blur of adrenal disruption. More likely, failure may follow. And if they do lose it seems we could be witnessing the decline.

Ahead of this, a couple of points to consider about this. More than two years ago, back in those heady early days, of light and heat, I wrote an article suggesting Bazball was a cult. People were very angry, which proved the point because everyone knows a method to show something definitely isn’t a cult is should followers respond with anger rejecting criticism of its truths.

What has happened recently are fascinating. It seems that hating Bazball has turned into a movement. Online outrage is widespread, angry English pundits, pictures of upset followers overseas cheated out of three days of cricket, similar to people wanting fairness.

On the other hand, we have the wider backdrop of Australia’s more nuanced deep-seated frustration at these weirdly passive-aggressive buccaneers, stating, hey, that thing you love and have honed as one way of separating yourself culturally from us, it’s just a joke in the end old boy.

Here lies the truth. All movements are similar. The approach was a phenomenon since the sport itself is insular. In fact, English cricket has always been a cult, a clique, a garden party, a restricted environment with two hundred years of opaque and ritualistic cult history defining it. Historically, this was where influence is guarded. It’s the colonial game of the British, the early image-makers. And notably, the nation has its own culture, a structure of hidden ranks, a place that literally still has a king.

The players have been sealed up within this world since childhood. Seeking change, to build a better atmosphere, they are mirroring their own experience, building another enclosure, an exclusive group, but now with 15 cool guys and a leader promoting authenticity as long as yourself is quite a lot like myself.

Live where your feet are. Run towards the danger. But no matter how fast and far you run, you’re always basically in the same place.

With this mind, now is the time to have some sympathy for Bazball, to acknowledge its merits, that are numerous. How to define it? Creating a sense of freedom. Defying norms. Batting aggressively|Attacking with