Daisy Cutter
Daisy Cutter is an alternative cricket fanzine, made for anyone, but especially people who might not feel represented by traditional cricket media. We are always on the lookout for submissions of writing, art, or anything else you can think of…
Find them here!
*This interview has been edited for clarity.
Anushka Bidani: You describe yourself as an “alternative” zine — could you talk a little about what that means? What is the mainstream culture, and conception of cricket / fans against which you are defining yourself?
Daisy Cutter: There’s a “pale, stale and male” stereotype around cricket—especially in England—that, unfortunately, is pretty true. The dominant culture in the sport and media is white and male, and that image continues to be projected as white men make up the majority of teams, crowds, administrators and journalists. It’s long been seen as pretty exclusionary, and the ICEC’s 2023 report “Holding up a Mirror to Cricket” bored into this, showcasing how cricket in England and Wales is failing in terms of ensuring inclusion. Also, to be honest, a lot of the newspaper journalism is quite right-wing and backwards-looking. It’s frustrating as a fan when you can’t find media that you feel represents or speaks to you. So, we wanted to make something different, with the tools we had available to us. We’ve never been interested in just replicating more of the same stuff you can already read. One of our big frustrations with mainstream media is this lack of variety: something happens in cricket, and you feel like dozens of journalists are all trying to compete to write the best version of the same story. That’s no shade thrown on those journalists, because we understand that is the job, but often it makes for a fairly boring media landscape.
AB: Why pick the name Daisy Cutter?
Daisy Cutter: A “daisy cutter” is the name of a type of delivery in cricket—so called, because it keeps really low. Since we were going for deliberately “girly”-adjacent aesthetic, a flower reference felt fitting, and helped us build the brand design. The logo is a daisy with a cricket ball in the middle. As Daisy is also a girl’s name, it makes it kind of neat when someone says “hi daisy”; and we are collectively “the daisies.” I can’t remember who came up with it, but it was really smart, and definitely not me [Ildikó].
AB: Your zine has carved an identity through bright and colourful texts and visuals—in stark contrast to mainstream outlets. What is it about cricket, or sports in general, that prompts such seriousness? Are there any other creators who, you feel, are speaking about cricket using similar language as you?
Daisy Cutter: Partly, sports prompts seriousness because people really care about it. They are extremely invested and attached to their teams. People also get a lot of personal value out of playing sports, be it physical or social.
Cricket, in particular, has a long tradition—that prompts a lot of protectiveness in people. Its set-up is to take itself incredibly seriously: the ways the Laws of Cricket work, with the MCC as the appointed protector; or the way that almost all English players come up the ranks through private school systems. Compare this to a sport like darts, which is traditionally quite working class—the coverage is not as serious, and the game is not seen as that much of an elite sport. Cricket feels a bit feudal, at times; and like with all things of this kind, people get defensive and remain resistant to change; which, in a sport that is constantly proposing new changes, creates a lot of tension. Of course, not all change is good. But whenever these conversations pop up within cricket, the ideas are wildly black-and-white — it feels like nobody wants to cede any ground, and that is to the detriment of the sport. Therefore a lot of the barriers to cricket growing and progressing are being generated, or at least maintained, by the people in charge.
There are quite a few creators doing some good work. Alongside myself, there are my fellow Daisies – Abi Slade and Rhiannon Blake. Charlotte Ashton (@isthatmiddle), Brittany Deller (@brittanydeller), You’re On Screen Now (@onscreennowpod), Rosa Simkin (@rosatalksball) are also fab.
AB: Your zines are very well crafted, both layout and content-wise. How do you approach the editorial process?
Daisy Cutter: I [Ildikó] have a background in creative copywriting, with prior work experience in fundraising and comms. Rhiannon is a pro in graphic design and visual content, so that’s really helpful in general.
I love copy editing! When people submit their work to the zine, I suggest changes through Google Docs. The priority is always to retain the writer’s voice—so the editorial process is heavily dialogical.
Layout-wise: I designed most of the zine in Canva by myself, which was quite a learning curve. Eventually, I have gotten more hands-on with Instagram (if you scroll back, you can tell when I started because it looks really shonky) (I think it’s better now). We also have a shared inspiration folder—just a collection of pages / covers of magazines we read when we were teenagers. A lot of the inspiration for the zine’s aesthetics and designs comes from that. I also try to ensure legibility and accessibility, as that can be hard to maintain because of the look and feel we go for. QR codes, linking to content online, is one way we try to enable that, throughout our issues.
AB: Did you have a very clear vision in mind for the zine when you first started off, or has the purpose evolved over time?
Daisy Cutter: Daisy Cutter was started by a group of female cricket fans who basically just talked online (mostly Twitter) about cricket a lot; a couple of whom were already making content. It was just an idea to make something fun that could showcase different perspectives and voices—different from what’s visible in the mainstream media. So, we spotlighted writing from female, LGBTQ+, and non-white authors, alongside people who aren’t professional journalists but do want to write. A lot of the time, the pieces touch on serious topics surrounding racism, homophobia, misogyny, body image. We are very interested in these social issues, and how they intersect with cricket. You’re unlikely to get an article in Daisy Cutter analysing stats or a bowling action. This carries through to interviews, too: for example, I recently interviewed Tawanda Muyeye to discuss his interest in fashion—a topic whose scope also covered his national identity, and how he copes with uncertainty. The most important thing with the content has definitely been the fact that it reflects our collective values and politics (e.g., we value inclusion, and we are all very left-wing). While we often publish things we don’t necessarily agree with vis-à-vis cricket, we refuse to publish stuff that goes against our moral values.
But we also want to, and try to, keep it, fun. Cricket is a really silly sport and it’s one of the reasons we enjoy it so much. There is loads of really funny content out there about cricket, and that’s what often engages people and gets them thinking that hey, we might just enjoy this. Making an actual zine, in that regard, was also important to us. Zines have long been the mainstay of alternative, self-published media. They allow you to be creative on a low budget, as they aren’t meant to be polished and professional. One of the zine’s core values has always been non-profitability: we request donations to cover print / postage, though if someone cannot afford to pay, that’s okay. Fortunately, some people go beyond our asking rate, which often gives us room to share issues at negligible costs.
Therefore, I don’t think the purpose has changed since our origin, but the format has. None of us have the same amount of spare time as we did when we started back in 2021. The amount of content that we receive from readers also fluctuates, which is fair, as it’s dependent on people having something they really want to write about. In the future, I do wish to see more submissions from people who haven’t been involved before! It would be great to work with them, and build their pieces together.
AB: Social media has changed the way fandoms operate. Can you speak to the influence of these platforms on your work?
Daisy Cutter: That’s an interesting question and I’m not sure how much social media has actually influenced it. I suppose it has on the Instagram account, because you have to try to make visuals that people will enjoy and make your content fit the platform. But in terms of the work itself not THAT much. The main thing would probably be that social media allows you to see loads of conversations happening at once, and so exposes you to things you may not have thought about much, or didn’t know about, and that can inspire what you write about.
AB: Do you feel you have built a community of like-minded fans around the zine? Was that deliberate?
Daisy Cutter: We definitely have—although I couldn’t share any specific metrics on that. I’ve had some really lovely feedback from people who say that Daisy Cutter has given them the space they wanted, or made them feel more confident in engaging with cricket, or even nudged them to get into it — because sometimes, all it takes is just knowing that you aren’t alone, that there are like-minded people out there within your fandom. That was deliberate, as that was the kind of space and community that we always wanted to create. Social media also enables this, as it lets you observe and participate in a lot of conversations happening at once. It exposes you to new ideas, which can often inspire a piece. (Quite a few articles have come from being annoyed at people being arseholes online!)
There are many other accounts and platforms much more invested in cultivating a community. You can find exclusive content, Patreons, Discord channels — but that’s for people who have made this their job, and have very clear objectives in mind. Daisy is organic, and it’s been moderately successful. We aren’t changing the world, and we are not even trying. But, some people say we have had a positive impact on their lives, and that really motivates us to carry on.
Anushka Bidani is an Indian writer, editor, & cultural researcher.