If we are witnessing the death spiral of the cult of Bazball, let’s savour what it created

‘The backlash, the outrage, the sense of betrayal after the first Ashes Test defeat seems too strong.’ Illustration: Cameron Law/The Guardian

The Life Cycle of a Cult
1. The Big Idea. A charismatic leader or leaders propose a new and transcendent idea that promises a panacea for alienated and vulnerable people.

So here we are then. They’re getting ready to storm the compound down in Brisbane. The gunships are circling. Smoke is rising from the out-houses. A lone figure, naked, shivering, the words HIGH RELEASE POINT smeared across his chest in chicken blood, has come staggering through the lines and is being led away under a blanket towards an inconclusive loan stint at Derbyshire.