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The Journey of a Cult can be marked by specific steps.

1. The Big Idea

A dominant personality or leaders propose a revolutionary approach pledging a solution for alienated and vulnerable people.

Thus we find ourselves. Plans are in motion to challenge the establishment overseas. The gunships are circling. Smoke is rising from the out-houses. One individual, naked, anxious, the slogan POSITIVE INTENT smeared across his chest as a statement, has emerged from the field and is taken aside with discretion to a different team elsewhere.

Remember the beginning, when optimism reigned? The era of early Bazball, of Bazball without brains.

2. Initial Adoration

Movement founders guarantee a reboot, optimism ahead, love, success together united in belief in the method.

What did it represent back then? Players celebrating feeling good. Body art. Muscles. Jawlines. Peak performance vibes. Oh sure, The team often say they don’t use the label, amusingly because if it doesn’t exist, what did we see?

But we know what it is. It’s the batsman playing a shot so outrageous it defies description. It’s the excitement of the captain in his final form, an expression conveying: thoughtful warrior, strong features, hair woven from beaver hide, so authentically Modern Savage you wouldn’t be surprised to glance over and find him positioned on the ground stripped to the waist and cradling a wild salmon.

It’s the opener still being allowed to talk in press conferences, resembling a cheerful animal smartly dressed, expressing thoughts like we’re challenging norms. And yes, the atmosphere, for a significant period, was uplifting.

3. Expansion Period

Building period. Togetherness strengthened via memorization of the cult’s slogans. These principles can appear contradictory as a test of “true belief”.

Am I alone? The backlash, the anger, the sense of betrayal after the first Ashes Test defeat feels overblown, too much. The performance was poor in Perth, as they often do in Australia. They were savaged in the field in a short span as the bowling and captaincy fell apart, manipulated by the opponent batting like England but better, adjusting to the pitch, a performer excelling with aura.

And now we have this the attacks, the rage, the perception of the team as a failure. The feeling seems to be that England don’t just need to lose, they must be humbled, to be purged, destroyed, destroyed through sheer skill of the bowler’s action, the simple basics of the bowler, out there celebrating achievements humbly as if receiving a rewarding prize. How will they respond?

4. Hate Bonding

Challenges surface from failures in the plan. Yet, mistakes are denied. It starts to feed on hatred of the outside world.

The fact remains, a few days before the next match, we are at an intriguing moment in the story of this movement. Victory is possible in the next Test through aggressive play. Probably, they could lose just as quickly. In case of defeat it appears we may see the death cult phase.

Prior to that, several aspects to consider regarding this. Previously, at the start, of passion and hope, a column appeared suggesting Bazball was a cult. Criticism followed, which was helpful as it’s known the best way of proving something definitely isn’t a cult is if supporters respond with anger denying scrutiny of the philosophy.

What has happened in the last few days are fascinating. Criticism of the approach has now become the cult. We have a uniformly angry internet, angry English pundits, pictures of upset travelling fans disappointed by the short match, similar to timeshare owners seeking justice.

On the other hand, exists the larger scene of the opponent’s mixed more culturally hard-wired exasperation with the aggressive tourists, stating, your cherished traditions and have honed to distinguish yourselves culturally from us, it’s just a joke after all.

This is the core issue. Everything is a cult. Bazball was a cult as the game has its own culture. In fact, the sport in England is closed, a clique, a garden party, an insular community with two hundred years of ceremonial past supporting it. This has always been where entry is limited. It’s the British pastime of the British, the early image-makers. And guess what, Britain is itself a cult, a series of esoteric hierarchies, a royal family remains.

The team have been isolated in this environment since childhood. Seeking change, to create a less brutal environment, they are just repeating their own experience, forming a new circle, a limited community, however with 15 cool guys and a coach who wants you to be yourself provided you conform.

Stay present. Confront risks. Despite efforts, things stay similar.

Reflecting on this, it is perhaps the moment to have some sympathy for Bazball, to recognize its positives, which are significant. How to define it? Encouraging expression. Challenging orthodoxies. Batting aggressively|Attacking with