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The Journey of a Movement tends to be marked by distinct phases.

1. The Big Idea

A dominant personality or coaches introduce a new and transcendent idea that promises a panacea for struggling players.

And so it goes. Preparations are underway to storm the compound overseas. Pressure is mounting. Signs of trouble appear from the out-houses. A lone figure, naked, nervous, the phrase ATTACKING MINDSET displayed prominently as a statement, has stumbled from the field and is taken aside under a blanket to a different team in county cricket.

Remember the beginning, when the world was still young? The era of early Bazball, of uninhibited aggression.

2. The Honeymoon Phase

Movement founders offer a new start, optimism ahead, love, salvation within a community united in belief in the big idea.

How did it feel back then? A team united feeling good. Body art. Muscles. Determination. Elite male wellness energy. Oh sure, The team often say they don’t use the label, amusingly because if it doesn’t exist, what was that spectacle?

Yet it’s clear its essence. It’s the player playing a shot so outrageous it defies description. It’s the thrill of Ben Stokes in his final form, a look that says: thoughtful warrior, beard made of wood, hair woven from beaver hide, truly contemporary you half-expect to look down and see him playing on the ground bare-chested and cradling a wild salmon.

It’s the batsman often seen addressing the media, appearing as a joyful figure in a waistcoat, uttering phrases such as we are actively deconstructing the orange. And yes, the atmosphere, for quite a long time, was uplifting.

3. A New Life

Development stage. Togetherness strengthened through repetition of mantras. These beliefs can appear contradictory as a test of “true belief”.

Is it just me? The backlash, the anger, the disappointment following the initial loss appears excessive, unwarranted. The performance was poor in Perth, as is typical there. They were dominated defensively during a brief period when tactics failed, outplayed by Travis Head imitating their style effectively, responsive to the situation, an athlete shining with a kind of light around him.

Now there is the pile-on, the anger, the perception of the team as a kind of abomination. The feeling seems to be that England don’t just need to lose, they need to lose righteously, to be cleansed, flame-throwered, defeated through sheer skill of Mitchell Starc’s movements, the low-fi orthodoxies of the veteran, seen enjoying successes modestly similar to getting a nice new fishing rod. What will this do to them?

4. External Conflict

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

The fact remains, a few days before from the second Test, we have now reached a critical juncture in the journey of this approach. England could quite easily win in Brisbane in a blur of adrenal disruption. Probably, failure may follow. Should they fail it feels like we could be witnessing the decline.

Ahead of this, several aspects to note regarding this. Previously, at the start, of passion and hope, I wrote an article calling it a phenomenon. There was outrage, which was helpful because everyone knows how to confirm that it’s not a closed group is if supporters react defensively rejecting criticism of its truths.

Recent events in the last few days is just as interesting. Opposition to the style has now become the cult. We have a uniformly angry internet, critical analysts, shots of angry middle-aged travelling fans cheated out of three days of cricket, like a room full of people wanting fairness.

Meanwhile, we have the wider backdrop of the host’s complex ingrained annoyance at these weirdly passive-aggressive buccaneers, claiming, hey, that thing you love and have fostered and nurtured as part of your identity from the opposition, it’s not serious in the end old boy.

And this is the real point. Everything is a cult. The style was a trend as the game has its own culture. Or rather, English cricket has always been a cult, a circle, a garden party, a restricted environment with two hundred years of ceremonial past supporting it. This has always been where influence is guarded. It’s the imperial sport of the British, the original sports washers. And surprisingly, Britain is itself a cult, a series of esoteric hierarchies, a place that literally still has a king.

England’s cricketers have been enclosed in this system for years. Seeking change, to foster positivity, they are mirroring their past, creating another a bubble, a limited community, but doing it this time with a new team and a leader promoting authenticity provided you conform.

Live where your feet are. Confront risks. However much you change, you’re always basically in the same place.

With this mind, now is the time to offer compassion for the approach, to recognize its positives, of which there are many. How to define it? Creating a sense of freedom. Defying norms. Batting aggressively|Attacking with