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The Life Cycle of a Cult can be defined by distinct phases.

1. The Core Concept

A dominant personality or coaches propose a new and transcendent idea pledging a panacea for struggling players.

And so it goes. They’re getting ready to storm the compound down in Brisbane. Pressure is mounting. Smoke is rising from the sidelines. An isolated player, exposed, nervous, the phrase ATTACKING MINDSET smeared across his chest as a statement, has come staggering from the field and is taken aside under a blanket for a temporary assignment in county cricket.

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

2. Love-Bombing

Movement founders promise a fresh beginning, a brighter tomorrow, camaraderie, redemption within a community who all believe in the philosophy.

What did it represent back then? A team united feeling good. Body art. Muscles. Jawlines. Elite male wellness energy. Oh sure, England’s players will claim Bazball doesn’t actually exist, amusingly as it’s denied, what was that spectacle?

But we know what it is. It’s the batsman attempting a move so depraved it has to be pixelated. It’s the thrill of the captain in his final form, a look that says: thoughtful warrior, rugged appearance, natural look, truly contemporary you almost imagine to look down and notice he’s fielding at mid-off bare-chested embracing nature.

It’s the batsman still being allowed speaking publicly, appearing as a cheerful animal smartly dressed, expressing thoughts like we’re challenging norms. And yes, the atmosphere, for quite a long time, was entirely positive.

3. A New Life

Development stage. Cohesion maintained through repetition of the cult’s slogans. These ideas are often illogical to prove commitment.

Am I alone? The backlash, the outrage, the feeling of letdown following the initial loss seems too strong, too much. England batted badly in Perth, as history shows. They were torn apart while bowling for a couple of hours when tactics failed, outplayed by the batsman imitating their style effectively, adjusting to the pitch, an athlete shining with a kind of light around him.

Now there is the attacks, the anger, the sense of English Test cricket as a disgrace. The feeling seems to be that England don’t just need to lose, they need to lose righteously, to be purged, destroyed, destroyed by the vengeful purity of the pace attack, the simple basics of the bowler, marking successes humbly like he’s just been given a pleasant gift. How will they respond?

4. The Backlash Phase

Challenges surface due to setbacks. However, faults are ignored. It starts to feed on hostility externally.

In truth, approaching the next match, we’ve entered an intriguing moment in the journey of this movement. They might succeed in the next Test in a blur of adrenal disruption. Alternatively, defeat could come swiftly. And if they do lose it seems we may see the final stage.

Prior to that, several aspects to note regarding this. In the past, during the initial excitement, of passion and hope, an piece was published calling it a phenomenon. Criticism followed, which proved the point because everyone knows how to confirm that it’s not a closed group is if supporters send hundreds of furiously one-eyed messages denying scrutiny of its truths.

What has happened recently is just as interesting. Criticism of the approach has now become the cult. Online outrage is widespread, critical analysts, shots of angry middle-aged supporters abroad cheated out of three days of cricket, similar to people wanting fairness.

Conversely, there is the broader context of the host’s complex ingrained annoyance with the aggressive tourists, stating, the methods you value and have honed as one way of separating yourself culturally from us, well, it’s all a bit of a gag ultimately.

This is the core issue. Everything is a cult. Bazball was a cult because cricket is a cult. Or rather, the team has long been exclusive, a group, an elite gathering, an insular community with two hundred years of tradition and mystery defining it. This has always been where entry is limited. It’s the colonial game of England, the early image-makers. And surprisingly, the country is a phenomenon, a structure of hidden ranks, a place that literally still has a king.

The team have been isolated in this environment from a young age. Seeking change, to create a less brutal environment, they are simply replicating their own experience, forming a new circle, a closed circle, but doing it this time with a modern squad and a coach encouraging individuality provided you conform.

Stay present. Run towards the danger. Despite efforts, things stay similar.

With this mind, it might be appropriate to have some sympathy for the approach, to recognize its positives, that are numerous. What does it represent? Creating a sense of freedom. Defying norms. Batting aggressively|Attacking with