The Journey of a Movement can be marked by distinct phases.
1. The Big Idea
A dominant personality or leaders present an innovative concept offering a panacea for alienated and vulnerable people.
So here we are. Plans are in motion to challenge the establishment down in Brisbane. Tensions are rising. Conflict emerges from within. An isolated player, naked, shivering, the phrase ATTACKING MINDSET displayed prominently as a symbol, has emerged into view and is removed under a blanket for a temporary assignment elsewhere.
Remember the start, when the world was still young? The days of Bazball 1.0, of Bazball without brains.
2. Love-Bombing
Cult leaders offer a reboot, a brighter tomorrow, camaraderie, success together with shared faith in the method.
What did it represent at first? A team united feeling good. Tattoos. Forearms. Determination. Elite male wellness energy. Oh sure, England’s players often say it’s not a real term, amusingly as it’s denied, what was that spectacle?
Yet it’s clear what it is. It’s Harry Brook executing a stroke so outrageous it has to be pixelated. It’s the excitement of Ben Stokes at his peak, a look that says: thoughtful warrior, beard made of wood, hair woven from beaver hide, truly contemporary you almost imagine to notice and notice he’s fielding on the ground stripped to the waist holding a fish.
It’s the batsman still being allowed addressing the media, appearing as a happy little woodland creature in a waistcoat, saying stuff like we’re breaking down traditions. Certainly, the atmosphere, initially, was uplifting.
3. The Growth Phase
Development stage. Unity enforced via memorization of the cult’s slogans. These ideas can appear contradictory as a loyalty check.
Does anyone else feel? The reaction, the outrage, the sense of betrayal following the initial loss appears excessive, unwarranted. The batting collapsed during the match, as history shows. They were torn apart defensively in a short span as plans unraveled, outplayed by the batsman playing aggressively but smarter, adjusting to the pitch, a performer excelling with a kind of light around him.
Currently, we see the attacks, the rage, the view of the sport as a disgrace. The feeling seems to be that losing isn’t enough, they must be humbled, to be cleansed, flame-throwered, defeated through sheer skill of Mitchell Starc’s movements, the conventional tactics of the bowler, marking achievements with a bashful smile like he’s just been given a pleasant gift. How will they respond?
4. Hate Bonding
Challenges surface from failures in the plan. Yet, mistakes are denied. It turns to hostility externally.
The fact remains, half a week out the next match, we have now reached an intriguing moment in the lifespan of this movement. They might succeed in Brisbane in a blur of adrenal disruption. More likely, they could lose just as quickly. And if they do lose it appears we really might be entering 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, an piece was published labeling it a movement. People were very angry, which proved the point as it’s known how to confirm something definitely isn’t a cult is should followers send hundreds of furiously one-eyed messages denying scrutiny of the beliefs.
What has happened in the last few days is just as interesting. It seems that hating Bazball is now the trend. Social media is furious, disappointed commentators, pictures of upset followers overseas cheated out of three days of cricket, reminiscent of investors demanding recourse.
Conversely, exists the larger scene of Australia’s more nuanced more culturally hard-wired exasperation towards the unconventional visitors, out there saying, hey, that thing you love and have honed as one way of separating yourself from the opposition, it’s not serious in the end old boy.
Here lies the truth. Everything is a cult. Bazball was a cult since the sport itself is insular. Or rather, English cricket has always been a cult, a clique, an elite gathering, a closed world with a long history of opaque and ritualistic cult history behind it. This has always been where entry is limited. It’s the colonial game of the British, the early image-makers. And surprisingly, the country is a phenomenon, a system of unknown levels, a place that literally still has a king.
The players have been sealed up in this environment for years. In trying to escape from it, to create a less brutal environment, they are mirroring their upbringing, building another enclosure, a limited community, however with a new team and a leader who wants you to be yourself provided you conform.
Live where your feet are. Embrace challenges. However much you change, you’re always basically in the same place.
Considering this, it might be appropriate to have some sympathy for the movement, to acknowledge its merits, which are significant. How to define it? Promoting liberation. Defying norms. Batting aggressively|Attacking with
