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The Life Cycle of a Phenomenon tends to be defined by clear stages.

1. The Core Concept

An inspiring figure or leaders propose a revolutionary approach that promises a cure for disconnected individuals.

So here we are. Preparations are underway to confront the system in Australia. The gunships are circling. Signs of trouble appear from the out-houses. A lone figure, exposed, nervous, the words HIGH RELEASE POINT written on his body in chicken blood, has emerged from the field and is being led away with discretion for a temporary assignment at Derbyshire.

Do you ever miss the early days, when optimism reigned? The days of Bazball 1.0, of Bazball without brains.

2. Love-Bombing

Team architects guarantee a new start, hope for a future, support, redemption within a community united in belief in the big idea.

What did it represent back then? Players celebrating enjoying success. Tattoos. Forearms. Determination. Peak performance vibes. Admittedly, The team will claim it’s not a real term, which is funny as it’s denied, what was that spectacle?

However, everyone understands what it is. It’s the batsman playing a shot so outrageous it’s beyond belief. It’s the excitement of the leader in his final form, an expression conveying: pensive Nordic god, rugged appearance, natural look, truly contemporary you wouldn’t be surprised to notice and see him playing on the ground stripped to the waist holding a fish.

It’s the opener continuing to have permission to talk in press conferences, appearing as a happy little woodland creature in a waistcoat, uttering phrases such as we’re challenging norms. Indeed, the atmosphere, for a significant period, was entirely positive.

3. A New Life

Growth phase. Unity enforced through repetition of mantras. These principles can appear contradictory as a loyalty check.

Is it just me? The reaction, the anger, the sense of betrayal following the initial loss seems too strong, unwarranted. The batting collapsed in Perth, as is typical there. They were dominated in the field during a brief period when tactics failed, manipulated by Travis Head playing aggressively but smarter, adjusting to the pitch, a performer excelling with aura.

Now there is the pile-on, the anger, the perception of the team as a disgrace. The feeling seems to be that losing isn’t enough, they must be humbled, to be cleansed, obliterated, overwhelmed by the vengeful purity of the pace attack, the conventional tactics of the bowler, seen enjoying his wickets humbly similar to getting a rewarding prize. How will they respond?

4. The Backlash Phase

Challenges surface from failures in the plan. Yet, mistakes are denied. It turns to hostility externally.

Ultimately, half a week out the next match, we are at a critical juncture in the lifespan of this thing. England could quite easily win in Brisbane in a blur of adrenal disruption. More likely, defeat could come swiftly. Should they fail it feels like we could be witnessing the final stage.

Prior to that, a couple of points worth saying regarding this. More than two years ago, at the start, of passion and hope, I wrote an article suggesting Bazball was a cult. There was outrage, which proved the point since it’s clear a method to show lack of cult status is if supporters send hundreds of furiously one-eyed messages objecting to the questioning of the philosophy.

Recent events recently are equally notable. It seems that hating Bazball has now become the cult. Online outrage is widespread, disappointed commentators, pictures of upset followers overseas missing out on play, like a room full of timeshare owners seeking justice.

Meanwhile, exists the larger scene of the opponent’s mixed more culturally hard-wired exasperation at these weirdly passive-aggressive buccaneers, claiming, the methods you value and have fostered and nurtured as one way of separating yourself from the opposition, it’s just a joke after all.

And this is the real point. It’s all cults. Bazball was a cult since the sport itself is insular. In fact, the sport in England is closed, a group, an elite gathering, an insular community with two hundred years of opaque and ritualistic cult history supporting it. This has always been a place where power and access are hoarded. It’s the colonial game of England, the early image-makers. And surprisingly, the country is a phenomenon, a system of unknown levels, a royal family remains.

The players have been sealed up in this system for years. Seeking change, to foster positivity, they are simply replicating their past, building another enclosure, an exclusive group, but doing it this time with 15 cool guys and a leader who wants you to be yourself as long as yourself is quite a lot like myself.

Focus on the moment. Confront risks. However much you change, things stay similar.

Considering this, it is perhaps the moment to have some sympathy for the movement, to appreciate its good points, of which there are many. What does it represent? Promoting liberation. Defying norms. Batting aggressively|Attacking with