🔗 Share this article

The Journey of a Movement is often defined by clear stages.

1. The Big Idea

A charismatic leader or figureheads present an innovative concept that promises a cure for struggling players.

So here we are. They’re getting ready to challenge the establishment in Australia. Tensions are rising. Signs of trouble appear from within. An isolated player, naked, anxious, the phrase ATTACKING MINDSET smeared across his chest as a symbol, has emerged from the field and is removed under a blanket to a different team elsewhere.

Do you recall the beginning, when everything was fresh? The initial phase, of uninhibited aggression.

2. Love-Bombing

Movement founders offer a new start, a brighter tomorrow, love, redemption among a group united in belief in the philosophy.

What did it represent initially? A team united enjoying success. Tattoos. Muscles. Determination. Peak performance vibes. Admittedly, England’s players insist Bazball doesn’t actually exist, amusingly because if it doesn’t exist, what did we see?

But we know the concept. It’s the batsman executing a stroke so depraved it defies description. It’s the adrenaline of the captain in his final form, a demeanor suggesting: focused titan, rugged appearance, natural look, genuinely raw you half-expect to glance over and see him playing in the field shirtless holding a fish.

It’s Ben Duckett still being allowed to talk in press conferences, resembling a joyful figure in a waistcoat, expressing thoughts like we are actively deconstructing the orange. Certainly, the energy, for a significant period, was entirely positive.

3. Expansion Period

Development stage. Togetherness strengthened by rote learning of the cult’s slogans. These principles are often illogical to prove commitment.

Does anyone else feel? The backlash, the fury, the feeling of letdown after the first Ashes Test defeat feels overblown, overdone. The batting collapsed in Perth, as they often do in Australia. They were dominated while bowling for a couple of hours as the bowling and captaincy fell apart, manipulated by the batsman imitating their style effectively, responsive to the situation, a performer excelling with a kind of light around him.

And now we have this the pile-on, the frustration, the perception of the team as a kind of abomination. The feeling seems to be that defeat must be total, they must be humbled, to be cleansed, flame-throwered, destroyed through sheer skill of the bowler’s action, the conventional tactics of the veteran, seen enjoying achievements with a bashful smile as if receiving a pleasant gift. How will they respond?

4. The Backlash Phase

Challenges surface because of mistakes. However, faults are ignored. It starts to feed on hostility externally.

The fact remains, half a week out the next match, we are at a delicious point of tension in the journey of this thing. Victory is possible in the next Test with bold tactics. Alternatively, failure may follow. And if they do lose it seems we really might be entering the final stage.

Before that happens, there are two things worth saying on the topic. Previously, back in those heady early days, of light and heat, an piece was published labeling it a movement. There was outrage, which proved the point since it’s clear a method to show something definitely isn’t a cult is should followers react defensively rejecting criticism of the philosophy.

The developments in the last few days are fascinating. Criticism of the approach has now become the cult. Online outrage is widespread, disappointed commentators, shots of angry middle-aged supporters abroad cheated out of three days of cricket, reminiscent of timeshare owners seeking justice.

Meanwhile, we have the wider backdrop of Australia’s more nuanced ingrained annoyance at these weirdly passive-aggressive buccaneers, out there saying, your cherished traditions and have developed as one way of separating yourself from the opposition, it’s not serious after all.

Here lies the truth. All movements are similar. Bazball was a cult as the game has its own culture. Or rather, the sport in England is closed, a group, a private event, a closed world with centuries of opaque and ritualistic cult history behind it. Historically, this was where influence is guarded. It’s the colonial game of the nation, the early image-makers. And guess what, the country is a phenomenon, a structure of hidden ranks, a royal family remains.

England’s cricketers have been sealed up in this system since childhood. Attempting to break free, to build a better atmosphere, they are just repeating their upbringing, building another enclosure, an exclusive group, but doing it this time with a new team and a coach promoting authenticity if you fit the mold.

Focus on the moment. Embrace challenges. However much you change, you remain stuck.

Considering this, it is perhaps the moment to show understanding for the movement, to appreciate its good points, that are numerous. How to define it? Encouraging expression. Challenging orthodoxies. Batting aggressively|Attacking with