🔗 Share this article

The Journey of a Phenomenon tends to be marked by specific steps.

1. The Big Idea

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

Thus we find ourselves. They’re getting ready to challenge the establishment in Australia. Tensions are rising. Signs of trouble appear from the sidelines. An isolated player, naked, shivering, the phrase ATTACKING MINDSET displayed prominently as a symbol, has emerged from the field and is removed in secrecy for a temporary assignment at Derbyshire.

Do you ever miss the early days, when the world was still young? The initial phase, of uninhibited aggression.

2. Initial Adoration

Cult leaders promise a fresh beginning, optimism ahead, support, success among a group who all believe in the philosophy.

How did it feel at first? A team united feeling good. Body art. Muscles. Determination. Confident masculinity. Oh sure, England’s players will claim Bazball doesn’t actually exist, which is funny as it’s denied, what did we see?

Yet it’s clear what it is. It’s the batsman playing a shot so depraved it’s beyond belief. It’s the excitement of Ben Stokes in his final form, a look that says: pensive Nordic god, rugged appearance, untamed style, genuinely raw you wouldn’t be surprised to look down and see him playing at mid-off bare-chested and cradling a wild salmon.

It’s the opener continuing to have permission to talk in press conferences, out there looking like a cheerful animal formally attired, saying stuff like we’re breaking down traditions. Certainly, the vibe, initially, was only good energy.

3. A New Life

Development stage. Unity enforced through repetition of key phrases. These principles can appear contradictory as a loyalty check.

Does anyone else feel? The backlash, the anger, the sense of betrayal following the initial loss appears excessive, overdone. The batting collapsed during the match, as is typical there. They were torn apart in the field during a brief period as the bowling and captaincy fell apart, carved around by the opponent playing aggressively but smarter, adjusting to the pitch, an athlete shining with brilliance.

Currently, we see the criticism, the frustration, the perception of the team as a failure. The opinion suggests that losing isn’t enough, they need to lose righteously, to be scoured, flame-throwered, destroyed by the vengeful purity of Mitchell Starc’s movements, the simple basics of the veteran, seen enjoying his wickets with a bashful smile as if receiving a nice new fishing rod. How will they respond?

4. External Conflict

Issues emerge from failures in the plan. However, faults are ignored. It begins to thrive on hatred of the outside world.

Ultimately, approaching from the second Test, we’ve entered a critical juncture in the story of this movement. England could quite easily win in Brisbane in a blur of adrenal disruption. Alternatively, defeat could come swiftly. And if they do lose it feels like we could be witnessing the decline.

Ahead of this, there are two things to note on the topic. More than two years ago, back in those heady early days, of light and heat, I wrote an article calling it a phenomenon. People were very angry, which demonstrated as it’s known the best way of proving something definitely isn’t a cult is should followers respond with anger objecting to the questioning of its truths.

Recent events recently are equally notable. Opposition to the style has now become the cult. Online outrage is widespread, critical analysts, pictures of upset followers overseas missing out on play, like a room full of people wanting fairness.

Conversely, there is the broader context of the opponent’s mixed ingrained annoyance at these weirdly passive-aggressive buccaneers, claiming, hey, that thing you love and have fostered and nurtured as part of your identity from others, it’s not serious in the end old boy.

This is the core issue. All movements are similar. Bazball was a cult as the game has its own culture. Or rather, English cricket has always been a cult, a group, a garden party, a closed world with centuries of opaque and ritualistic cult history defining it. This has always been a place where power and access are hoarded. It’s the imperial sport of the nation, the original sports washers. And notably, the nation has its own culture, a structure of hidden ranks, a place that literally still has a king.

The players have been isolated in this environment since childhood. Seeking change, to foster positivity, they are simply replicating their own experience, creating another a bubble, a closed circle, however with a modern squad and a mentor promoting authenticity if you fit the mold.

Live where your feet are. Confront risks. However much you change, you remain stuck.

Reflecting on this, it is perhaps the moment to offer compassion for the approach, to appreciate its good points, of which there are many. What is Bazball? Promoting liberation. Questioning traditions. Batting aggressively|Attacking with