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The Life Cycle of a Movement can be marked by specific steps.

1. The Big Idea

A dominant personality or leaders introduce a new and transcendent idea that promises a cure for alienated and vulnerable people.

Thus we find ourselves. They’re getting ready to storm the compound in Australia. The gunships are circling. Smoke is rising from the out-houses. One individual, exposed, shivering, the words HIGH RELEASE POINT displayed prominently as a statement, has come staggering through the lines and is taken aside in secrecy for a temporary assignment elsewhere.

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

2. The Honeymoon Phase

Cult leaders offer a reboot, hope for a future, love, success among a group who all believe in the big idea.

How did it feel initially? Just men on a balcony feeling good. Body art. Forearms. Determination. Confident masculinity. Oh sure, The squad insist they don’t use the label, which is funny as it’s denied, what was that spectacle?

However, everyone understands the concept. It’s the batsman attempting a move so outrageous it has to be pixelated. It’s the thrill of the captain in his final form, a look that says: focused titan, strong features, untamed style, truly contemporary you half-expect to glance over and see him playing on the ground stripped to the waist and cradling a wild salmon.

It’s Ben Duckett continuing to have permission speaking publicly, resembling a happy little woodland creature in a waistcoat, expressing thoughts like we’re breaking down traditions. And yes, the energy, initially, was entirely positive.

3. Expansion Period

Growth phase. Unity enforced by rote learning of mantras. These ideas are often illogical as a loyalty check.

Is it just me? The criticism, the fury, the feeling of letdown after the first Ashes Test defeat appears excessive, overdone. The performance was poor in Perth, as they often do in Australia. They were savaged defensively for a couple of hours when tactics failed, manipulated by Travis Head playing aggressively but smarter, responsive to the situation, a man playing with aura.

Currently, we see the criticism, the rage, the perception of the team as a disgrace. The opinion suggests that England don’t just need to lose, they should be dismantled, to be cleansed, destroyed, destroyed by the vengeful purity of the pace attack, the simple basics of Scott Boland, marking his wickets with a bashful smile like he’s just been given a rewarding prize. How will they respond?

4. The Backlash Phase

Challenges surface due to setbacks. However, faults are ignored. It starts to feed on hostility externally.

The fact remains, a few days before the upcoming game, we have now reached a delicious point of tension in the lifespan of this movement. Victory is possible overseas in a blur of adrenal disruption. More likely, failure may follow. In case of defeat it appears we may see the decline.

Prior to that, there are two things to consider on the topic. More than two years ago, at the start, of optimism and energy, I wrote an article calling it a phenomenon. Criticism followed, which was helpful because everyone knows how to confirm that it’s not a closed group is when its acolytes respond with anger objecting to the questioning of the philosophy.

What has happened lately are equally notable. Criticism of the approach is now the trend. Social media is furious, angry English pundits, images of frustrated followers overseas cheated out of three days of cricket, like a room full of timeshare owners seeking justice.

On the other hand, we have the wider backdrop of Australia’s more nuanced more culturally hard-wired exasperation at these weirdly passive-aggressive buccaneers, stating, hey, that thing you love and have honed as part of your identity from others, it’s just a joke in the end old boy.

Here lies the truth. It’s all cults. The style was a trend since the sport itself is insular. Or rather, the team has long been exclusive, a clique, a private event, an insular community with two hundred years of tradition and mystery defining it. This has always been a place where power and access are hoarded. It’s the colonial game of the British, the pioneering brand. And guess what, Britain is itself a cult, a structure of hidden ranks, a monarchy still exists.

England’s cricketers 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 now with a new team and a coach promoting authenticity if you fit the mold.

Stay present. Embrace challenges. However much you change, you remain stuck.

Considering this, now is the time to show understanding for Bazball, to recognize its positives, of which there are many. What is Bazball? Encouraging expression. Challenging orthodoxies. Batting aggressively|Attacking with