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

1. The Core Concept

A dominant personality or coaches propose a new and transcendent idea offering a panacea for alienated and vulnerable people.

Thus we find ourselves. Plans are in motion to storm the compound overseas. The gunships are circling. Smoke is rising from the out-houses. An isolated player, naked, shivering, the phrase ATTACKING MINDSET displayed prominently as a statement, has come staggering from the field and is being led away with discretion to a different team at Derbyshire.

Do you recall the start, when everything was fresh? The initial phase, of pure instinct.

2. Love-Bombing

Cult leaders promise a fresh beginning, a brighter tomorrow, support, success within a community with shared faith in the method.

What was this thing initially? Players celebrating enjoying success. Ink. Forearms. Determination. Confident masculinity. Admittedly, The team insist they don’t use the label, amusingly as it’s denied, what did we see?

However, everyone understands what it is. It’s the batsman executing a stroke so depraved it defies description. It’s the thrill of Ben Stokes at his peak, an expression conveying: thoughtful warrior, beard made of wood, natural look, genuinely raw you almost imagine to notice and notice he’s fielding at mid-off stripped to the waist holding a fish.

It’s Ben Duckett often seen addressing the media, resembling a happy little woodland creature formally attired, saying stuff like we’re challenging norms. Certainly, the energy, initially, was uplifting.

3. The Growth Phase

Development stage. Cohesion maintained via memorization of the cult’s slogans. These beliefs may seem irrational as a loyalty check.

Am I alone? The reaction, the outrage, the disappointment following the initial loss seems too strong, overdone. England batted badly on the field, as history shows. They were dominated in the field during a brief period as plans unraveled, manipulated by the batsman playing aggressively but smarter, adaptive to conditions, a performer excelling with aura.

Now there is the pile-on, the frustration, the sense of English Test cricket as a kind of abomination. The feeling seems to be that defeat must be total, they should be dismantled, to be purged, destroyed, defeated by the vengeful purity of the pace attack, the low-fi orthodoxies of the veteran, seen enjoying successes humbly as if receiving a pleasant gift. How will they respond?

4. Hate Bonding

Problems arise due to setbacks. But the cult cannot admit errors. It begins to thrive on anger towards critics.

The fact remains, half a week out from the second Test, we are at an intriguing moment in the journey of this thing. Victory is possible in the next Test through aggressive play. Alternatively, failure may follow. And if they do lose it feels like we really might be entering the decline.

Before that happens, a couple of points worth saying regarding this. In the past, at the start, of passion and hope, a column appeared suggesting Bazball was a cult. There was outrage, which demonstrated since it’s clear the best way of proving lack of cult status is when its acolytes react defensively denying scrutiny of the beliefs.

Recent events lately 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.

On the other hand, there is the broader context of the opponent’s mixed deep-seated frustration towards the unconventional visitors, claiming, the methods you value and have fostered and nurtured as one way of separating yourself from others, well, it’s all a bit of a gag after all.

Here lies the truth. It’s all cults. The approach was a phenomenon as the game has its own culture. Or at least, the team has long been exclusive, a circle, a private event, an insular community with a long history of ceremonial past behind it. It has long been where influence is guarded. It’s the imperial sport of the British, the original sports washers. And guess what, the country is a phenomenon, a series of esoteric hierarchies, a place that literally still has a king.

England’s cricketers have been sealed up in this environment from a young age. In trying to escape from it, to foster positivity, they are mirroring their own experience, creating another a bubble, an exclusive group, but now with a modern squad and a leader encouraging individuality if you fit the mold.

Live where your feet are. Embrace challenges. Despite efforts, you’re always basically in the same place.

With this mind, it might be appropriate to offer compassion for the approach, to recognize its positives, which are significant. How to define it? Promoting liberation. Defying norms. Batting aggressively|Attacking with