🔗 Share this article

The Journey of a Movement is often defined by distinct phases.

1. The Grand Vision

An inspiring figure or coaches present a new and transcendent idea offering a solution for struggling players.

Thus we find ourselves. Preparations are underway to challenge the establishment overseas. The gunships are circling. Signs of trouble appear from the out-houses. An isolated player, vulnerable, anxious, the words HIGH RELEASE POINT written on his body in chicken blood, has stumbled from the field and is taken aside with discretion towards an inconclusive loan stint elsewhere.

Remember the start, when everything was fresh? The days of Bazball 1.0, of uninhibited aggression.

2. Love-Bombing

Movement founders promise a reboot, a brighter tomorrow, love, salvation within a community who all believe in the big idea.

What was this thing back then? A team united feeling good. Body art. Forearms. Jawlines. Confident masculinity. Oh sure, England’s players will claim Bazball doesn’t actually exist, ironically as it’s denied, what did we see?

However, everyone understands its essence. It’s the batsman executing a stroke so unconventional it has to be pixelated. It’s the adrenaline of the captain at his peak, an expression conveying: pensive Nordic god, rugged appearance, untamed style, so authentically Modern Savage you half-expect to notice and notice he’s fielding in the field bare-chested holding a fish.

It’s the opener continuing to have permission to talk in press conferences, appearing as a happy little woodland creature smartly dressed, saying stuff like we’re breaking down traditions. And yes, the energy, initially, was only good energy.

3. A New Life

Growth phase. Unity enforced via memorization of key phrases. These beliefs can appear contradictory to prove commitment.

Am I alone? The backlash, the fury, the feeling of letdown post-defeat appears excessive, too much. The batting collapsed on the field, as is typical there. They were torn apart in the field during a brief period as plans unraveled, manipulated by Travis Head batting like England but better, adaptive to conditions, an athlete shining with aura.

Now there is the pile-on, the frustration, the view of the sport as a disgrace. The opinion suggests that defeat must be total, they must be humbled, to be cleansed, obliterated, defeated via traditional methods of the bowler’s action, the conventional tactics of Scott Boland, out there celebrating successes modestly similar to getting a rewarding prize. What impact will this have?

4. Hate Bonding

Problems arise due to setbacks. But the cult cannot admit errors. It turns to hatred of the outside world.

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. England could quite easily win overseas with bold tactics. Probably, failure may follow. Should they fail it seems we may see the decline.

Prior to that, several aspects to note about this. In the past, during the initial excitement, of optimism and energy, a column appeared suggesting Bazball was a cult. There was outrage, which proved the point as it’s known a method to show something definitely isn’t a cult is when its acolytes send hundreds of furiously one-eyed messages rejecting criticism of its truths.

The developments in the last few days is just as interesting. It seems that hating Bazball has now become the cult. Online outrage is widespread, disappointed commentators, shots of angry middle-aged followers overseas cheated out of three days of cricket, reminiscent of investors demanding recourse.

Meanwhile, we have the wider backdrop of the host’s complex more culturally hard-wired exasperation with the aggressive tourists, out there saying, your cherished traditions and have honed as one way of separating yourself from others, it’s not serious after all.

And this is the real point. Everything is a cult. The style was a trend as the game has its own culture. In fact, English cricket has always been a cult, a clique, a garden party, a restricted environment with centuries of tradition and mystery behind it. This has always been a place where power and access are hoarded. It’s the imperial sport of the British, the original sports washers. And guess what, the nation has its own culture, a system of unknown levels, a place that literally still has a king.

England’s cricketers have been isolated in this environment from a young age. Attempting to break free, to create a less brutal environment, they are simply replicating their own experience, building another enclosure, an exclusive group, but now with 15 cool guys and a mentor encouraging individuality provided you conform.

Live where your feet are. Embrace challenges. But no matter how fast and far you run, you’re always basically in the same place.

With this mind, now is the time to show understanding for Bazball, to appreciate its good points, which are significant. What does it represent? Creating a sense of freedom. Questioning traditions. Batting aggressively|Attacking with