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The Journey of a Movement tends to be defined by specific steps.

1. The Big Idea

A dominant personality or leaders propose an innovative concept that promises a cure for struggling players.

So here we are. Plans are in motion to confront the system down in Brisbane. Pressure is mounting. Smoke is rising from within. An isolated player, naked, nervous, the words HIGH RELEASE POINT smeared across his chest as a statement, has emerged through the lines and is removed in secrecy towards an inconclusive loan stint elsewhere.

Do you ever miss the beginning, when the world was still young? The days of Bazball 1.0, of uninhibited aggression.

2. Love-Bombing

Movement founders offer a new start, optimism ahead, camaraderie, redemption within a community who all believe in the big idea.

How did it feel initially? Just men on a balcony feeling good. Body art. Muscles. Determination. Peak performance vibes. Admittedly, England’s players insist it’s not a real term, ironically because if it doesn’t exist, what was that spectacle?

But we know the concept. It’s the player playing a shot so depraved it’s beyond belief. It’s the thrill of Ben Stokes at his peak, a look that says: thoughtful warrior, strong features, untamed style, so authentically Modern Savage you half-expect to look down and find him positioned on the ground stripped to the waist and cradling a wild salmon.

It’s the batsman still being allowed to talk in press conferences, resembling a joyful figure in a waistcoat, expressing thoughts like we’re challenging norms. And yes, the atmosphere, initially, was only good energy.

3. A New Life

Building period. Unity enforced through repetition of mantras. These principles are often illogical as a test of “true belief”.

Am I alone? The criticism, the fury, the feeling of letdown following the initial loss seems too strong, too much. England batted badly in Perth, as they often do in Australia. They were savaged while bowling during a brief period when tactics failed, carved around by Travis Head imitating their style effectively, adjusting to the pitch, an athlete shining with aura.

Currently, we see the pile-on, the rage, the perception of the team as a kind of abomination. The consensus is that defeat must be total, they should be dismantled, to be purged, destroyed, defeated through sheer skill of Mitchell Starc’s movements, the conventional tactics of Scott Boland, marking achievements humbly as if receiving a nice new fishing rod. What will this do to them?

4. The Backlash Phase

Challenges surface from failures in the plan. Yet, mistakes are denied. It turns to anger towards critics.

In truth, approaching the next match, we’ve entered an intriguing moment in the journey of this movement. England could quite easily win in the next Test through aggressive play. More likely, they could lose just as quickly. And if they do lose it appears we could be witnessing the death cult phase.

Prior to that, several aspects to consider about this. In the past, during the initial excitement, of passion and hope, an piece was published suggesting Bazball was a cult. Criticism followed, which was helpful as it’s known the best way of proving that it’s not a closed group is if supporters send hundreds of furiously one-eyed messages denying scrutiny of the beliefs.

Recent events lately is just as interesting. Criticism of the approach is now the trend. Online outrage is widespread, angry English pundits, pictures of upset travelling fans missing out on play, similar to investors demanding recourse.

Meanwhile, there is the broader context of the host’s complex more culturally hard-wired exasperation towards the unconventional visitors, stating, hey, that thing you love and have honed to distinguish yourselves from the opposition, it’s just a joke in the end old boy.

This is the core issue. It’s all cults. The style was a trend as the game has its own culture. In fact, English cricket has always been a cult, a group, a garden party, a restricted environment with two hundred years of tradition and mystery supporting 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, the nation has its own culture, a series of esoteric hierarchies, a place that literally still has a king.

England’s cricketers have been enclosed within this world for years. In trying to escape from it, to foster positivity, they are just repeating their own experience, creating another a bubble, an exclusive group, however with 15 cool guys and a leader encouraging individuality provided you conform.

Stay present. Confront risks. But no matter how fast and far you run, things stay similar.

With this mind, it is perhaps the moment to show understanding for the movement, to appreciate its good points, that are numerous. What is Bazball? Encouraging expression. Defying norms. Batting aggressively|Attacking with