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The Life Cycle of a Cult is often characterized by clear stages.

1. The Core Concept

A charismatic leader or figureheads propose a new and transcendent idea offering a cure for alienated and vulnerable people.

So here we are. Preparations are underway to confront the system overseas. Pressure is mounting. Smoke is rising from within. A lone figure, exposed, nervous, the slogan POSITIVE INTENT written on his body in chicken blood, has emerged into view and is taken aside under a blanket to a different team at Derbyshire.

Do you ever miss the early days, when the world was still young? The initial phase, of uninhibited aggression.

2. Love-Bombing

Cult leaders offer a fresh beginning, a brighter tomorrow, support, redemption together with shared faith in the big idea.

How did it feel initially? Players celebrating basking in glory. Ink. Strength. Focus. Peak performance vibes. Oh sure, The team will claim it’s not a real term, which is funny since it’s not recognized, what was that spectacle?

Yet it’s clear what it is. It’s Harry Brook attempting a move so unconventional it’s beyond belief. It’s the excitement of Ben Stokes in his final form, an expression conveying: thoughtful warrior, beard made of wood, natural look, genuinely raw you almost imagine to look down and find him positioned in the field stripped to the waist and cradling a wild salmon.

It’s Ben Duckett still being allowed addressing the media, resembling a joyful figure in a waistcoat, saying stuff like we’re challenging norms. And yes, the atmosphere, for a significant period, was entirely positive.

3. The Growth Phase

Growth phase. Unity enforced through repetition of key phrases. These beliefs are often illogical as a loyalty check.

Am I alone? The backlash, the fury, the feeling of letdown following the initial loss feels overblown, too much. The performance was poor on the field, as is typical there. They were torn apart defensively for a couple of hours as plans unraveled, outplayed by the batsman playing aggressively but smarter, adjusting to the pitch, a performer excelling with a kind of light around him.

And now we have this the criticism, the frustration, the perception of the team as a kind of abomination. The opinion suggests that defeat must be total, they should be dismantled, to be purged, obliterated, overwhelmed through sheer skill of Mitchell Starc’s movements, the simple basics of Scott Boland, marking achievements with a bashful smile as if receiving a nice new fishing rod. How will they respond?

4. Hate Bonding

Issues emerge from failures in the plan. However, faults are ignored. It starts to feed on hostility externally.

In truth, half a week out the next match, we have now reached an intriguing moment in the lifespan of this thing. They might succeed in the next Test with bold tactics. More likely, they could lose just as quickly. In case of defeat it seems we may see the decline.

Prior to that, a couple of points to note regarding this. Previously, at the start, of passion and hope, an piece was published suggesting Bazball was a cult. There was outrage, which proved the point as it’s known how to confirm lack of cult status is when its acolytes respond with anger objecting to the questioning of the beliefs.

What has happened lately are equally notable. Criticism of the approach is now the trend. We have a uniformly angry internet, critical analysts, pictures of upset travelling fans cheated out of three days of cricket, like a room full of people wanting fairness.

Meanwhile, there is the broader context of the opponent’s mixed deep-seated frustration with the aggressive tourists, claiming, your cherished traditions and have fostered and nurtured as part of your identity culturally from us, well, it’s all a bit of a gag ultimately.

Here lies the truth. It’s all cults. The approach was a phenomenon as the game has its own culture. In fact, the team has long been exclusive, a clique, a garden party, a restricted environment with two hundred years of opaque and ritualistic cult history behind it. This has always been a place where power and access are hoarded. It’s the British pastime of England, the original sports washers. And notably, the nation has its own culture, a series of esoteric hierarchies, a monarchy still exists.

England’s cricketers have been isolated within this world for years. Attempting to break free, to build a better atmosphere, they are simply replicating their upbringing, creating another a bubble, an exclusive group, however with a new team and a coach who wants you to be yourself provided you conform.

Stay present. Confront risks. However much you change, you’re always basically in the same place.

Reflecting on this, it is perhaps the moment to offer compassion for Bazball, to acknowledge its merits, which are significant. How to define it? Promoting liberation. Challenging orthodoxies. Batting aggressively|Attacking with