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The Life Cycle of a Cult is often characterized by distinct phases.

1. The Big Idea

A charismatic leader or leaders propose a new and transcendent idea offering a panacea for alienated and vulnerable people.

Thus we find ourselves. They’re getting ready to storm the compound in Australia. The gunships are circling. Smoke is rising from the out-houses. One individual, vulnerable, shivering, the words HIGH RELEASE POINT written on his body as a symbol, has emerged into view and is removed with discretion to a different team elsewhere.

Remember the start, when optimism reigned? The era of early Bazball, of uninhibited aggression.

2. The Honeymoon Phase

Cult leaders offer a fresh beginning, hope for a future, support, success within a community with shared faith in the philosophy.

What was this thing back then? Players celebrating basking in glory. Ink. Muscles. Determination. Confident masculinity. Of course, The squad will claim they don’t use the label, amusingly as it’s denied, what exactly did I just watch?

However, everyone understands the concept. It’s Harry Brook attempting a move so unconventional it’s beyond belief. It’s the excitement of the captain in ultimate mode, a look that says: thoughtful warrior, strong features, natural look, genuinely raw you almost imagine to notice and find him positioned on the ground shirtless and cradling a wild salmon.

It’s the batsman often seen speaking publicly, appearing as a happy little woodland creature smartly dressed, uttering phrases such as we’re challenging norms. And yes, the energy, for a significant period, was only good energy.

3. The Growth Phase

Building period. Cohesion maintained through repetition of key phrases. These ideas are often illogical as a test of “true belief”.

Is it just me? The criticism, the outrage, the sense of betrayal following the initial loss appears excessive, unwarranted. The performance was poor during the match, as is typical there. They were dominated while bowling in a short span when tactics failed, carved around by the opponent batting like England but better, adaptive to conditions, a man playing with a kind of light around him.

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 scoured, obliterated, destroyed via traditional methods of Mitchell Starc’s movements, the conventional tactics of Scott Boland, marking successes humbly as if receiving a rewarding prize. How will they respond?

4. The Backlash Phase

Issues emerge from failures in the plan. Yet, mistakes are denied. It starts to feed on hatred of the outside world.

Ultimately, a few days before from the second Test, we’ve entered a critical juncture in the story of this approach. Victory is possible overseas with bold tactics. Alternatively, failure may follow. In case of defeat it seems we could be witnessing the death cult phase.

Ahead of this, a couple of points to note about this. Previously, during the initial excitement, of passion and hope, I wrote an article labeling it a movement. Criticism followed, which demonstrated as it’s known the best way of proving something definitely isn’t a cult is should followers send hundreds of furiously one-eyed messages objecting to the questioning of the philosophy.

What has happened lately is just as interesting. Opposition to the style has now become the cult. Online outrage is widespread, angry English pundits, images of frustrated supporters abroad cheated out of three days of cricket, reminiscent of timeshare owners seeking justice.

On the other hand, there is the broader context of Australia’s more nuanced ingrained annoyance towards the unconventional visitors, claiming, your cherished traditions and have developed as part of your identity from the opposition, it’s just a joke in the end old boy.

This is the core issue. Everything is a cult. The style was a trend since the sport itself is insular. Or at least, the team has long been exclusive, a clique, an elite gathering, a restricted environment with two hundred years of ceremonial past supporting it. This has always been where entry is limited. It’s the colonial game of England, the original sports washers. And surprisingly, the nation has its own culture, a series of esoteric hierarchies, a monarchy still exists.

The team have been enclosed in this environment since childhood. In trying to escape from it, to build a better atmosphere, they are simply replicating their own experience, building another enclosure, a closed circle, however with 15 cool guys and a leader promoting authenticity provided you conform.

Focus on the moment. Embrace challenges. However much you change, things stay similar.

Reflecting on this, it is perhaps the moment to show understanding for the approach, to acknowledge its merits, of which there are many. How to define it? Creating a sense of freedom. Questioning traditions. Batting aggressively|Attacking with