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The Journey of a Cult tends to be defined by distinct phases.

1. The Core Concept

A dominant personality or coaches propose an innovative concept offering a cure for alienated and vulnerable people.

And so it goes. They’re getting ready to confront the system overseas. Tensions are rising. Conflict emerges from the sidelines. A lone figure, naked, anxious, the phrase ATTACKING MINDSET smeared across his chest in chicken blood, has come staggering from the field and is being led away under a blanket to a different team elsewhere.

Remember the start, when optimism reigned? The initial phase, of pure instinct.

2. Initial Adoration

Team architects promise a fresh beginning, hope for a future, camaraderie, success within a community with shared faith in the big idea.

How did it feel at first? Just men on a balcony feeling good. Body art. Forearms. Jawlines. Peak performance vibes. Admittedly, The team will claim Bazball doesn’t actually exist, ironically as it’s denied, what did we see?

Yet it’s clear its essence. It’s the batsman executing a stroke so depraved it defies description. It’s the excitement of Ben Stokes in his final form, a demeanor suggesting: pensive Nordic god, strong features, natural look, truly contemporary you almost imagine to look down and notice he’s fielding in the field shirtless embracing nature.

It’s Ben Duckett often seen addressing the media, resembling a cheerful animal formally attired, expressing thoughts like we are actively deconstructing the orange. Certainly, the vibe, for a significant period, was uplifting.

3. A New Life

Development stage. Togetherness strengthened by rote learning of the cult’s slogans. These principles may seem irrational as a loyalty check.

Am I alone? The criticism, the anger, the disappointment following the initial loss feels overblown, unwarranted. The batting collapsed on the field, as they often do in Australia. They were savaged while bowling for a couple of hours as the bowling and captaincy fell apart, manipulated by the batsman batting like England but better, adaptive to conditions, a performer excelling with aura.

Currently, we see the pile-on, the rage, the view of the sport as a kind of abomination. The consensus is that England don’t just need to lose, they should be dismantled, to be purged, flame-throwered, defeated via traditional methods of the pace attack, the low-fi orthodoxies of the bowler, seen enjoying achievements modestly as if receiving a rewarding prize. What will this do to them?

4. Hate Bonding

Problems arise because of mistakes. Yet, mistakes are denied. It turns to anger towards critics.

The fact remains, half a week out the next match, we have now reached a delicious point of tension in the story of this approach. Victory is possible in Brisbane through aggressive play. More likely, failure may follow. In case of defeat it feels like we may see the decline.

Prior to that, several aspects to note about this. In the past, back in those heady early days, of light and heat, a column appeared calling it a phenomenon. There was outrage, which was helpful since it’s clear the best way of proving something definitely isn’t a cult is should followers send hundreds of furiously one-eyed messages objecting to the questioning of its truths.

The developments lately is just as interesting. Criticism of the approach has turned into a movement. Social media is furious, disappointed commentators, images of frustrated supporters abroad cheated out of three days of cricket, similar to investors demanding recourse.

Conversely, exists the larger scene of the opponent’s mixed deep-seated frustration at these weirdly passive-aggressive buccaneers, out there saying, your cherished traditions and have honed to distinguish yourselves from the opposition, it’s just a joke in the end old boy.

And this is the real point. It’s all cults. The approach was a phenomenon as the game has its own culture. Or at least, the sport in England is closed, a group, a garden party, an insular community with centuries of opaque and ritualistic cult history behind it. It has long been a place where power and access are hoarded. It’s the British pastime of the British, the pioneering brand. And notably, the country is a phenomenon, a series of esoteric hierarchies, a place that literally still has a king.

The players have been enclosed in this system for years. In trying to escape from it, to foster positivity, they are mirroring their past, building another enclosure, an exclusive group, however with a modern squad and a leader who wants you to be yourself if you fit the mold.

Stay present. Confront risks. However much you change, you remain stuck.

With this mind, now is the time to offer compassion for the approach, to appreciate its good points, of which there are many. What is Bazball? Encouraging expression. Questioning traditions. Batting aggressively|Attacking with