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The Life Cycle of a Cult tends to be defined by clear stages.

1. The Big Idea

An inspiring figure or coaches present a revolutionary approach pledging a solution for disconnected individuals.

So here we are. Plans are in motion to challenge the establishment in Australia. The gunships are circling. Signs of trouble appear from within. A lone figure, vulnerable, nervous, the phrase ATTACKING MINDSET written on his body in chicken blood, has stumbled from the field and is being led away with discretion for a temporary assignment elsewhere.

Remember the start, when the world was still young? The initial phase, of Bazball without brains.

2. The Honeymoon Phase

Cult leaders promise a new start, optimism ahead, support, redemption among a group who all believe in the philosophy.

What was this thing back then? A team united basking in glory. Ink. Strength. Jawlines. Confident masculinity. Of course, England’s players will claim it’s not a real term, which is funny since it’s not recognized, what was that spectacle?

However, everyone understands what it is. It’s the player executing a stroke so depraved it defies description. It’s the adrenaline of the leader in his final form, a demeanor suggesting: pensive Nordic god, beard made of wood, natural look, genuinely raw you half-expect to notice and see him playing in the field bare-chested embracing nature.

It’s Ben Duckett continuing to have permission to talk in press conferences, resembling a cheerful animal in a waistcoat, uttering phrases such as we are actively deconstructing the orange. Certainly, the energy, for a significant period, was uplifting.

3. A New Life

Building period. Unity enforced via memorization of the cult’s slogans. These ideas may seem irrational as a test of “true belief”.

Am I alone? The reaction, the anger, the sense of betrayal following the initial loss seems too strong, too much. England batted badly on the field, as they often do in Australia. They were dominated in the field during a brief period as the bowling and captaincy fell apart, outplayed by the batsman playing aggressively but smarter, adaptive to conditions, an athlete shining with a kind of light around him.

And now we have this the attacks, the frustration, the perception of the team as a disgrace. The feeling seems to be that losing isn’t enough, they should be dismantled, to be scoured, destroyed, defeated by the vengeful purity of Mitchell Starc’s movements, the low-fi orthodoxies of the veteran, marking his wickets humbly similar to getting a pleasant gift. What impact will this have?

4. External Conflict

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

In truth, a few days before from the second Test, we are at a delicious point of tension in the story of this movement. Victory is possible in the next Test with bold tactics. More likely, they could lose just as quickly. And if they do lose it appears we could be witnessing the decline.

Before that happens, there are two things worth saying regarding this. In the past, during the initial excitement, of optimism and energy, I wrote an article 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 if supporters react defensively denying scrutiny of its truths.

Recent events lately are fascinating. Criticism of the approach is now the trend. We have a uniformly angry internet, angry English pundits, images of frustrated supporters abroad disappointed by the short match, similar to timeshare owners seeking justice.

On the other hand, 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 to distinguish yourselves culturally from us, well, it’s all a bit of a gag in the end old boy.

And this is the real point. Everything is a cult. The style was a trend because cricket is a cult. Or at least, English cricket has always been a cult, a group, an elite gathering, an insular community with two hundred years of tradition and mystery behind it. This has always been a place where power and access are hoarded. It’s the imperial sport of England, the original sports washers. And surprisingly, Britain is itself a cult, a structure of hidden ranks, a royal family remains.

The players have been sealed up in this system from a young age. In trying to escape from it, to build a better atmosphere, they are simply replicating their own experience, building another enclosure, an exclusive group, but doing it this time with 15 cool guys and a leader encouraging individuality as long as yourself is quite a lot like myself.

Live where your feet are. Run towards the danger. Despite efforts, you’re always basically in the same place.

With this mind, it is perhaps the moment to offer compassion for the movement, to acknowledge its merits, which are significant. What does it represent? Encouraging expression. Defying norms. Batting aggressively|Attacking with