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The Life Cycle of a Phenomenon is often characterized by specific steps.

1. The Core Concept

A dominant personality or leaders propose a new and transcendent idea pledging a cure for disconnected individuals.

Thus we find ourselves. They’re getting ready to storm the compound down in Brisbane. Tensions are rising. Signs of trouble appear from the sidelines. An isolated player, exposed, anxious, the words HIGH RELEASE POINT written on his body in chicken blood, has stumbled through the lines and is taken aside under a blanket for a temporary assignment elsewhere.

Do you recall the start, when the world was still young? The days of Bazball 1.0, of Bazball without brains.

2. The Honeymoon Phase

Movement founders offer a new start, hope for a future, love, salvation within a community united in belief in the philosophy.

What was this thing at first? A team united enjoying success. Tattoos. Muscles. Focus. Peak performance vibes. Oh sure, The squad often say they don’t use the label, amusingly because if it doesn’t exist, what was that spectacle?

But we know its essence. It’s the player playing a shot so depraved it defies description. It’s the thrill of the leader at his peak, an expression conveying: pensive Nordic god, rugged appearance, untamed style, truly contemporary you half-expect to notice and notice he’s fielding in the field shirtless and cradling a wild salmon.

It’s Ben Duckett continuing to have permission to talk in press conferences, appearing as a happy little woodland creature formally attired, saying stuff like we’re challenging norms. And yes, the energy, initially, was only good energy.

3. Expansion Period

Growth phase. Unity enforced by rote learning of mantras. These principles can appear contradictory as a loyalty check.

Is it just me? The criticism, the anger, the feeling of letdown after the first Ashes Test defeat feels overblown, too much. The performance was poor on the field, as is typical there. They were dominated defensively for a couple of hours as the bowling and captaincy fell apart, outplayed by the opponent batting like England but better, adjusting to the pitch, a man playing with brilliance.

Currently, we see the pile-on, the anger, the sense of English Test cricket as a disgrace. The opinion suggests that losing isn’t enough, they should be dismantled, to be cleansed, flame-throwered, destroyed via traditional methods of the bowler’s action, the simple basics of Scott Boland, out there celebrating successes with a bashful smile like he’s just been given a nice new fishing rod. How will they respond?

4. Hate Bonding

Problems arise from failures in the plan. Yet, mistakes are denied. It begins to thrive on anger towards critics.

The fact remains, a few days before the next match, we are at a delicious point of tension in the lifespan of this approach. Victory is possible overseas through aggressive play. Alternatively, failure may follow. Should they fail it feels like we really might be entering the death cult phase.

Before that happens, several aspects worth saying regarding this. Previously, during the initial excitement, of passion and hope, I wrote an article suggesting Bazball was a cult. Criticism followed, which proved the point since it’s clear the best way of proving something definitely isn’t a cult is when its acolytes react defensively denying scrutiny of the philosophy.

Recent events in the last few days are equally notable. Opposition to the style is now the trend. We have a uniformly angry internet, angry English pundits, images of frustrated followers overseas cheated out of three days of cricket, similar to timeshare owners seeking justice.

Conversely, we have the wider backdrop of the host’s complex deep-seated frustration towards the unconventional visitors, claiming, hey, that thing you love and have developed as part of your identity from the opposition, it’s not serious 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, English cricket has always been a cult, a group, a garden party, a closed world with two hundred years of opaque and ritualistic cult history defining it. Historically, this was where influence is guarded. It’s the colonial game of the nation, the original sports washers. And guess what, the nation has its own culture, a system of unknown levels, a royal family remains.

The team have been enclosed in this environment from a young age. In trying to escape from it, to build a better atmosphere, they are mirroring their own experience, creating another a bubble, an exclusive group, but now with 15 cool guys and a mentor encouraging individuality as long as yourself is quite a lot like myself.

Focus on the moment. Run towards the danger. However much you change, things stay similar.

Reflecting on this, it is perhaps the moment to offer compassion for the approach, to recognize its positives, which are significant. How to define it? Encouraging expression. Challenging orthodoxies. Batting aggressively|Attacking with