🔗 Share this article

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

1. The Big Idea

A charismatic leader or figureheads present a new and transcendent idea pledging a cure for struggling players.

And so it goes. They’re getting ready to challenge the establishment in Australia. Pressure is mounting. Conflict emerges from within. A lone figure, exposed, nervous, the slogan POSITIVE INTENT smeared across his chest as a symbol, has emerged from the field and is removed under a blanket to a different team in county cricket.

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

2. The Honeymoon Phase

Movement founders guarantee a new start, optimism ahead, love, salvation within a community who all believe in the big idea.

What did it represent at first? A team united enjoying success. Tattoos. Strength. Jawlines. Elite male wellness energy. Oh sure, England’s players often say Bazball doesn’t actually exist, amusingly as it’s denied, what exactly did I just watch?

However, everyone understands what it is. It’s Harry Brook playing a shot so depraved it defies description. It’s the excitement of the leader in his final form, an expression conveying: pensive Nordic god, rugged appearance, hair woven from beaver hide, so authentically Modern Savage you wouldn’t be surprised to look down and notice he’s fielding in the field shirtless and cradling a wild salmon.

It’s Ben Duckett often seen to talk in press conferences, out there looking like a cheerful animal formally attired, saying stuff like we’re challenging norms. And yes, the energy, initially, was only good energy.

3. The Growth Phase

Development stage. Unity enforced by rote learning of the cult’s slogans. These ideas can appear contradictory as a loyalty check.

Is it just me? The criticism, the outrage, the sense of betrayal following the initial loss seems too strong, unwarranted. The batting collapsed in Perth, as they often do in Australia. They were savaged in the field for a couple of hours as plans unraveled, manipulated by Travis Head imitating their style effectively, responsive to the situation, an athlete shining with aura.

Now there is the criticism, the anger, the perception of the team as a kind of abomination. The consensus is that defeat must be total, they should be dismantled, to be purged, flame-throwered, destroyed through sheer skill of Mitchell Starc’s movements, the simple basics of the bowler, marking achievements humbly as if receiving a pleasant gift. What will this do to them?

4. The Backlash Phase

Challenges surface due to setbacks. Yet, mistakes are denied. It turns to anger towards critics.

Ultimately, a few days before from the second Test, we are at an intriguing moment in the story of this approach. They might succeed in the next Test with bold tactics. Probably, they could lose just as quickly. In case of defeat it feels like we really might be entering the death cult phase.

Ahead of this, several aspects to note regarding this. More than two years ago, during the initial excitement, of passion and hope, a column appeared calling it a phenomenon. Criticism followed, which demonstrated as it’s known a method to show something definitely isn’t a cult is if supporters react defensively denying scrutiny of its truths.

What has happened in the last few days is just as interesting. Criticism of the approach has turned into a movement. We have a uniformly angry internet, critical analysts, images of frustrated supporters abroad cheated out of three days of cricket, similar to people wanting fairness.

Conversely, we have the wider backdrop of the host’s complex more culturally hard-wired exasperation with the aggressive tourists, out there saying, hey, that thing you love 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. Or rather, the sport in England is closed, a group, a garden party, a closed world with two hundred years of tradition and mystery behind it. Historically, this was where entry is limited. It’s the imperial sport of the nation, the original sports washers. And notably, Britain is itself a cult, a structure of hidden ranks, a place that literally still has a king.

The team have been enclosed in this environment for years. Seeking change, to create a less brutal environment, they are simply replicating their upbringing, creating another a bubble, an exclusive group, however with 15 cool guys and a leader promoting authenticity as long as yourself is quite a lot like myself.

Stay present. Embrace challenges. Despite efforts, things stay similar.

Considering this, now is the time to show understanding for the approach, to acknowledge its merits, which are significant. What is Bazball? Encouraging expression. Challenging orthodoxies. Batting aggressively|Attacking with