With the 2016-17 South African domestic season all set to get underway, ESPNcricinfo looks at the key talking points

Firdose Moonda03-Oct-2016Like many tournaments of its ilk, South Africa’s first-class competition is contested under the radar. This season, however, there will be increased focus on it because it is expected to produce the players that will help their Test team return to its former glory.The 2015-16 summer was South Africa’s worst since readmission. They lost five out of the eight Tests they played and tumbled from No. 1 to 6 in the ICC rankings. Although they arrested that slide with a 1-0 win over New Zealand in August, it was only the start. Bigger tests are in store.In an unusually packed calendar, South Africa will play nine Tests in three countries in the next six months before an early winter break that leads into a four-Test tour of England. If they win enough, they could find themselves close to the top again, but they need the personnel to get there. The only place those players can come from is the first-class structure, so this summer’s ten-round tournament – which is broken into five fixtures per franchise in October-November and five more in January-March – will be closely watched. ESPNcricinfo picks out a few things to keep an eye on.Dean Elgar and Morne Morkel’s fitness tests Opening batsman Dean Elgar injured his ankle when stepping onto the boundary rope in the lead-up to the second Test against New Zealand. But he is now fully fit and will play for Titans in the first two rounds to try and seal his spot for the Australia tour.Morne Morkel has a little more work to do before he can be sure of making the trip. He had been sidelined for the last two months because of a bulging disc in his back, and missed both the Tests against New Zealand and the ODIs against Australia. He made a comeback at the club level last weekend and got through 10 overs with only mild stiffness. However, he now needs to return to stiffer competition. With limits on the number of overs he can bowl, Morkel will have to wait until the second week of fixtures to play for Titans and prove himself fit enough for Test cricket.Paul Adams’ futureDown the road from Titans, in Johannesburg, Cobras begin their season and the atmosphere promises to be frosty. Their change room is split into a pro-Adams camp, led by limited-overs captain Justin Ontong, and an anti-Adams camp, which includes 10 of the 17 contracted players. The anti-camp initially voiced concerns about Adams’ ability to coach at the end of the previous season, but their concerns were not dealt with until a month ago when a mediator in the form of Paddy Upton was appointed to deal with the issues.Upton interviewed some of the franchise players and recommended Adams stood down and be redeployed elsewhere, but Cobras chose not to implement that and the aggrieved players have now taken the case to the dispute resolution body, the Council for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).Cobras’ season will begin on an incongruous note, with some of their players still unhappy with the head coach of the team•Getty ImagesThe CCMA now needs to serve papers to the Western Cape Cricket Board, who then has 30 days to attend mediation. That means the season will start with Adams in charge, and some players unhappy with the head coach, who is under immense pressure to produce results. Adams has been in charge of the franchise since 2012, and Cobras have won five trophies under him. However, they did not collect any silverware in the previous season – the first time in eight summers that Cobras hadn’t had success.Will former players make a difference?At least Adams will have an aide in the form of Ashwell Prince, who has been appointed his assistant. Prince resigned from the national selection panel last month to concentrate his efforts on coaching, and he has a specific task to develop Cobras’ young batsmen.Prince will also act as a role model to aspiring internationals, something that was considered missing from the South African franchise system. The structure has come under criticism for not involving former internationals. But this summer, it will have at least three big names in Prince, Mark Boucher and Nicky Boje.Boucher has signed a two-year deal as the Titans head coach, and he has promised to involve several of his former team-mates, including Jacques Kallis and Makhaya Ntini. Boje, who was involved in an interim capacity with Knights last season, is now their full-time coach.Knights and Warriors’ trophy droughtBoje’s most pressing task will be to bring some success to a franchise, whose trophy cabinet has been bare for five seasons. Their last win was a shared limited-overs cup in 2010-11, and they have endured a middling run ever since. They have beefed up their squad for the upcoming summer with the acquisitions of David Miller and Marchant de Lange, and have a new captain in Theunis de Bruyn, who they will hope can lead to a change in fortunes.On the Eastern Cape Coast, Warriors have gone even longer without winning. Their trophies came in the 2009-10 season, when Russell Domingo was in charge, but they have struggled ever since. Warriors will make a fresh start under a new captain, with Colin Ingram stepping down because of fitness issues. Simon Harmer will lead the team instead in first-class and JJ Smuts in the shorter formats. Ingram recently underwent knee surgery and is still on the road to recovery, with his return to action likely to take longer. But under coach Malibongwe Maketa, and with Kyle Abbott to lead their attack, Warriors may have the makings of a more successful unit.How will Dolphins fare without many internationals?Further along the shoreline in Durban, there have also been unsettling developments that will affect how Dolphins approach this season. The franchise chose not to renew Lance Klusener’s contract towards the end of the previous season, and finished off their campaign with acting coaches. They have since appointed Grant Morgan, who has enjoyed success with Kwa-Zulu Natal Inland and will have to repeat that at a higher level, without the resources he may have wanted.Dolphins have been unsettled due to the departure of some big international names•AFPBoth Miller and Abbott chose to play their domestic cricket away from Durban this season, with Miller moving to Knights and Abbott to Warriors. That leaves Dolphins with Imran Tahir as the only nationally-contracted player, and even his appearances will be limited due to international commitments. Dolphins have some experience in the form of Morne van Wyk, Daryn Smith and Imraan Khan. But they will not have a headline-grabber until Kevin Pietersen arrives for the T20 tournament much later. It will be interesting to see whether they band together better in the absence of a big name player or if they miss having one around.Lions roaring into national sideGeoffrey Toyana, the Lions coach, has made a name for himself as the finishing school master for franchise cricketers who want to become international regulars, and he has more students to work with this season. Hardus Viljoen, Reeza Hendricks and Dwaine Pretorius will want to join Quinton de Kock, Temba Bavuma, Chris Morris, Kagiso Rabada and Aaron Phangiso as players who passed through Toyana’s hands into South African XIs.All three have been on the South African radar, with Viljoen making his Test debut last season. Hendricks was picked for the Test squad in Bangladesh in July, 2015, but did not play, and Pretorius is part of the ongoing ODI series against Australia. Toyana will press on the trio the need for consistent performances and the importance of being part of a winning franchise. Success breeds success, after all.