Seeto, Winter, Zohrab Lead Burnside West's Mud Cup Charge

Burnside West Christchurch University Cricket Club | September 23, 2025

The preseason calendar holds few prizes more treasured than the Mud Cup.

Horton Park in Blenheim will again play host to Burnside West Christchurch University CC, Saint Albans, Sydenham and Marlborough’s Hawke Cup side. It’s a competition that prepares sides for the season ahead and offers locals a fantastic spectacle.

For Burnside West, the trip north is no casual exercise. Coach Carl Huyser has named a 16-man squad brimming with intent, the club chasing both sharpness and silverware after finishing runners-up in last year’s edition. There’s a desire to start on the front foot – in the hope that momentum in September can translate into history in March, where BWCUCC will look to become the first club in history to win four Two-Day Premierships in a row.

Players to Watch

Tim Seeto

The dual-sport dynamo arrives in Blenheim fresh from a silver medal at the national hockey championships, and he carries that same low-gravity athleticism into his cricket. Seeto is the definition of a 360 player: scoop, ramp, cut or slog-sweep, nothing is off the table. Behind the stumps he’s sharp, and in the outfield he’s elusive. This Mud Cup could be the stage where he announces his season’s intent with the bat, while his fielding alone is worth the price of admission.

Seeto in action for the Canterbury Beavers last week. PHOTO: Canterbury Hockey Facebook.

Adam Winter

Coming into the Mud Cup off the back of representing Canterbury's Senior Golf Team, there are few players in the Christchurch club circuit who can turn a contest on its head as quickly as Adam Winter. With the bat, he is unashamedly destructive – long levers and a willingness to clear infielders early make him a nightmare for captains trying to set fields. But it’s his fast bowling that adds the cutting edge, heavy and hostile deliveries ensuring opposition lineups never feel entirely safe. If the conditions offer even a sniff of seam at Horton Park, Winter has the power to rip through.

Adam Winter, brutal with bat, ball and golf club. PHOTO: Graeme Campbell.

David Zohrab

Zohrab is the kind of player teammates lean on and opponents dread: a genuine three-dimensional cricketer. With the bat, he’s fluent to all parts of the ground, scoring as comfortably behind point as he does down the ground. With the ball, he brings craft and nous, able to chip away at key wickets in the middle overs. Add in his towering fitness standards – setting the benchmark for his peers – and you’ve got a player who embodies Burnside West’s drive to be sharper, fitter, better.

David Zohrab will be pivotal for BWCUCC this summer. PHOTO: Liz Inglis.

Last year BWCUCC fell just short against Saints, but that near miss has only added steel to their campaign. In Blenheim, they’ll measure themselves against city rivals and a provincial powerhouse, each match a test of depth and cohesion. For Huyser and his men, the Mud Cup is more than warm-up cricket – it’s an early chance to lay down a marker that Burnside West intends to go one better this Spring and make history on the fringe of Autumn.

Full travelling squad. PHOTO: Thomas Bird.

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