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The margin of defeat was definitive. 4-1. The aura felt gone. The Bazballers had arrived on these shores touted as serious foes. But eight weeks later, they shared the same fate as any other Test side to visit India over the past decade. But was it enough to sway away the believers of Bazball? Not so soon.
“From a fan perspective. I love it,” Simon Finch, The Barmy Army’s lead trumpeter since 2020, tells The Indian Express. “Before Stokes and McCullum, we won only one game out of 17. England are a much-improved side and I think they will continue to improve, and no matter what, we will be there supporting them.” But while Finch’s Bollywood renditions at Indian venues may have been a big hit, England’s cricket was anything but.
“It’s wanting to be a better player,” captain Ben Stokes suggested at the end of the series. Cult, however, was the term former English skipper Nasser Hussain had used to describe the side after the Rajkot routing. “At times, Bazball in this regime has been described as a cult where you cannot criticize, either within or externally.”
Ben Stokes from five games could only manage 199 runs at an average of 19.90 in the series against India.
It has been one of the cornerstones for Stokes and McCullum since they took over the charge of the dressing room in the summer of 2022. No pointing fingers at each other, only good vibes. Crusty old quotes from former players, media and critics aren’t paid heed to, no matter the result. Winning, as has been said over and over again, isn’t even the most important thing. A novice concept it may sound in contemporary sport, especially coming from a player, but there is a basis for the somewhat inconceivable idea in the dominion of club football.
Ultras in football
The term Ultras in football is associated with fans who have turned fanatics, with an unhinged devotion for their football club. While their history has been blood soaked, especially in Italy, due to their association with violence and gang wars, such is their support for the club that the Ultras, typically seated behind the goals, are able to garner the attention of the management as well as the players. Not to say that the silverware isn’t valued but it’s the one-tracked, almost regimented support of the club through thick and thin which characterizes an Ultra. Nowhere flaunted more proudly, even in 2024, than in the heart of Berlin.
Hertha and Union – the two most popular clubs in the capital, which grew on either side of The Wall – have a more understated identity compared to Germany’s more globally recognized clubs such as Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. There were even a couple of years when the capital city of Germany did not even have a club in the top flight. But a thriving football culture is deep rooted in the city.
“If you want to define culture as being about success and being about titles and being about numbers and industry, f**k off. Then you have to go to Bayern Munich or Borussia Dortmund,” rapper Liquit Walker, a lifelong Union Berlin fan, had once told Copa90. “But if you want to see real culture, real football culture, this is the place to be.”
Andrew Lawn, head of the football travel magazine Glory, expands on the ideology. “I think because lots of clubs know what it’s like to fear for the future of your club, and that brings a certain amount of gratitude simply for the clubs existence. Also, clubs with strong supporter cultures mean more than just sport to their fans. It’s a community and a social aspect of their life that lives far beyond simply 90 minutes a week.”
For Stokes and Co, a team that hasn’t been reticent in suggesting that its mission statement is to ‘save Test cricket’, borrowing a page from the most popular team sport seems fair. But are they a good fit?
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“Potentially, but I think a bigger part is possibly the lack of tribalism. Football and cricket differ in that way, partly because of the segregation of fans,” believes Lawn. “But Bazball certainly requires understanding and support to flourish. It requires fans to accept, and enjoy, the performance, as much as the result – which isn’t easy, but is a big part of ultra mentality. It’s not a binary choice between fun or winning. The idea of enjoying the game itself and making that a spectacle. Not just trophies.”
Simon Finch, the trumpet player of the Barmy Army. (Special Arrangement)
Finch, part of the group that stayed in India throughout the Test series, seems to have bought into the mentality. “When India were very close to winning the matches, we continued to sing. We want to convey the message that we have got their back even though they are not winning.”
It begs the question what those in England make of this team as opposed to the one that last trumped India at home? Senior cricket journalist George Dobell noted in a recent fan session on The Cricketer. “(In 2012) It was not a better brand of cricket, it was just better cricket. But of course, they did (play better cricket than Stokes and Co). England had Cook, who had a fantastic series. KP, who played one of the best innings I have ever seen in Mumbai. Trott made runs in Nagpur and Kolkata. You know there were a lot of good players on that side. Then of course, we had the spin attack Monty and Swann and Jimmy at his absolute best. It was a very very good side. England played some outrageously aggressive cricket. KP’s innings was brilliant. They were a completely different side.”
So much so that Stokes believes even the best of them wouldn’t have made it in the current regime. They are surely going all in with the cult of Bazball, and for now, have the backing of the fans to flourish with it. But in a week when French Canadian director Denis Villeneuve’s cautionary tale a cult hit the big screen, England will do well to remember that Bazball isn’t invincible no more.
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