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The Journey of a Movement tends to be marked by clear stages.

1. The Grand Vision

An inspiring figure or coaches introduce an innovative concept pledging a solution for alienated and vulnerable people.

So here we are. Plans are in motion to challenge the establishment overseas. Pressure is mounting. Conflict emerges from the sidelines. A lone figure, vulnerable, anxious, the slogan POSITIVE INTENT smeared across his chest as a statement, has emerged into view and is removed with discretion for a temporary assignment in county cricket.

Remember the start, when optimism reigned? The era of early Bazball, of Bazball without brains.

2. Love-Bombing

Cult leaders promise a new start, optimism ahead, love, salvation within a community with shared faith in the method.

What did it represent initially? Just men on a balcony basking in glory. Ink. Muscles. Focus. Elite male wellness energy. Admittedly, England’s players insist they don’t use the label, amusingly because if it doesn’t exist, what was that spectacle?

However, everyone understands what it is. It’s the player playing a shot so unconventional it defies description. It’s the excitement of Ben Stokes in his final form, a look that says: pensive Nordic god, strong features, untamed style, genuinely raw you wouldn’t be surprised to glance over and notice he’s fielding at mid-off bare-chested embracing nature.

It’s Ben Duckett continuing to have permission to talk in press conferences, out there looking like a joyful figure in a waistcoat, uttering phrases such as we’re breaking down traditions. Indeed, the atmosphere, for a significant period, was entirely positive.

3. A New Life

Development stage. Unity enforced by rote learning of key phrases. These principles may seem irrational to prove commitment.

Does anyone else feel? The backlash, the outrage, the disappointment following the initial loss seems too strong, overdone. The batting collapsed during the match, as history shows. They were dominated defensively during a brief period when tactics failed, carved around by the opponent playing aggressively but smarter, responsive to the situation, a performer excelling with a kind of light around him.

Now there is the attacks, the anger, the perception of the team as a failure. The feeling seems to be that England don’t just need to lose, they must be humbled, to be purged, flame-throwered, destroyed through sheer skill of the pace attack, the simple basics of the veteran, marking his wickets modestly as if receiving a pleasant gift. What will this do to them?

4. External Conflict

Problems arise from failures in the plan. But the cult cannot admit errors. It begins to thrive on hostility externally.

In truth, half a week out the next match, we are at a critical juncture in the journey of this movement. England could quite easily win overseas in a blur of adrenal disruption. Alternatively, they could lose just as quickly. Should they fail it feels like we may see the final stage.

Ahead of this, there are two things to consider regarding this. More than two years ago, at the start, of passion and hope, an piece was published suggesting Bazball was a cult. There was outrage, which was helpful because everyone knows the best way of proving lack of cult status is if supporters respond with anger rejecting criticism of the beliefs.

Recent events recently are fascinating. It seems that hating Bazball has turned into a movement. We have a uniformly angry internet, disappointed commentators, pictures of upset travelling fans disappointed by the short match, similar to investors demanding recourse.

Conversely, we have the wider backdrop of the opponent’s mixed more culturally hard-wired exasperation towards the unconventional visitors, claiming, hey, that thing you love and have developed as part of your identity from others, well, it’s all a bit of a gag ultimately.

And this is the real point. Everything is a cult. The approach was a phenomenon as the game has its own culture. Or at least, the team has long been exclusive, a circle, a garden party, a closed world with a long history of opaque and ritualistic cult history supporting it. It has long been a place where power and access are hoarded. It’s the imperial sport of the British, the pioneering brand. And surprisingly, Britain is itself a cult, a series of esoteric hierarchies, a royal family remains.

England’s cricketers have been enclosed in this system from a young age. Seeking change, to build a better atmosphere, they are just repeating their upbringing, creating another a bubble, a limited community, however with 15 cool guys and a mentor who wants you to be yourself provided you conform.

Focus on the moment. Confront risks. Despite efforts, you remain stuck.

With this mind, it might be appropriate to offer compassion for the approach, to acknowledge its merits, which are significant. How to define it? Encouraging expression. Defying norms. Batting aggressively|Attacking with