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The Evolution of a Cult can be marked by specific steps.

1. The Big Idea

A dominant personality or coaches propose a new and transcendent idea pledging a solution for struggling players.

Thus we find ourselves. They’re getting ready to confront the system down in Brisbane. Pressure is mounting. Signs of trouble appear from the out-houses. An isolated player, naked, shivering, the slogan POSITIVE INTENT written on his body as a statement, has come staggering through the lines and is taken aside under a blanket for a temporary assignment in county cricket.

Remember the early days, when optimism reigned? The initial phase, of uninhibited aggression.

2. Love-Bombing

Team architects offer a reboot, a brighter tomorrow, camaraderie, salvation together who all believe in the big idea.

How did it feel back then? Players celebrating feeling good. Body art. Muscles. Determination. Confident masculinity. Admittedly, The team often say they don’t use the label, which is funny since it’s not recognized, what did we see?

However, everyone understands what it is. It’s the batsman executing a stroke so outrageous it defies description. It’s the adrenaline of the leader at his peak, a look that says: thoughtful warrior, strong features, hair woven from beaver hide, truly contemporary you half-expect to notice and see him playing at mid-off bare-chested holding a fish.

It’s the opener still being allowed addressing the media, resembling a cheerful animal smartly dressed, saying stuff like we are actively deconstructing the orange. And yes, the vibe, for a significant period, was only good energy.

3. The Growth Phase

Growth phase. Togetherness strengthened by rote learning of mantras. These ideas are often illogical as a test of “true belief”.

Is it just me? The reaction, the anger, the sense of betrayal following the initial loss feels overblown, unwarranted. The performance was poor in Perth, as history shows. They were dominated in the field during a brief period when tactics failed, carved around by the batsman batting like England but better, adaptive to conditions, a man playing with brilliance.

And now we have this the pile-on, the rage, the view of the sport as a failure. The feeling seems to be that defeat must be total, they need to lose righteously, to be cleansed, flame-throwered, overwhelmed by the vengeful purity of the bowler’s action, the low-fi orthodoxies of Scott Boland, seen enjoying achievements modestly as if receiving a rewarding prize. What will this do to them?

4. The Backlash Phase

Challenges surface from failures in the plan. Yet, mistakes are denied. It turns to hostility externally.

In truth, approaching the upcoming game, we are at a delicious point of tension in the journey of this thing. They might succeed overseas in a blur of adrenal disruption. Alternatively, failure may follow. And if they do lose it feels like we could be witnessing the decline.

Prior to that, there are two things worth saying about this. More than two years ago, during the initial excitement, of passion and hope, a column appeared calling it a phenomenon. People were very angry, which demonstrated because everyone knows a method to show something definitely isn’t a cult is when its acolytes send hundreds of furiously one-eyed messages rejecting criticism of the philosophy.

The developments recently are fascinating. Criticism of the approach has now become the cult. We have a uniformly angry internet, angry English pundits, images of frustrated supporters abroad disappointed by the short match, reminiscent of people wanting fairness.

On the other hand, we have the wider backdrop of the host’s complex deep-seated frustration with the aggressive tourists, stating, your cherished traditions and have fostered and nurtured to distinguish yourselves from others, it’s not serious in the end old boy.

This is the core issue. It’s all cults. The style was a trend since the sport itself is insular. Or at least, English cricket has always been a cult, a clique, a private event, a closed world with a long history of opaque and ritualistic cult history defining it. Historically, this was a place where power and access are hoarded. It’s the colonial game of England, the early image-makers. And surprisingly, Britain is itself a cult, a series of esoteric hierarchies, a royal family remains.

The players have been isolated in this system since childhood. Attempting to break free, to build a better atmosphere, they are simply replicating their upbringing, building another enclosure, a limited community, however with a new team and a leader encouraging individuality if you fit the mold.

Live where your feet are. Embrace challenges. Despite efforts, you’re always basically in the same place.

Considering this, now is the time to have some sympathy for the approach, to acknowledge its merits, of which there are many. What does it represent? Promoting liberation. Defying norms. Batting aggressively|Attacking with