to understand. Reaction from Middlesbrough manager Aitor Karanka Im st

Like many tournaments of its ilk, South Africas 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 Africas 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 summers 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 Morkels 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).The 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 hadnt 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 droughtBojes 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 Kluseners 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. Both 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 Toyanas 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. Swell Water Bottle Sale 17 Oz . Klitschkos management company says the bout will be the Ukrainian fighters 25th world championship fight. The 1.83-meter (6-foot) Leapai defeated the previously unbeaten Denis Boytsov in November to become the WBOs mandatory challenger. Swell Water Bottle Clearance . The visitors took a deserved lead in the 16th minute with midfielder Yohan Cabaye curling the ball beyond Adrian from inside the penalty area. http://www.swellbottleaustralia.com/s-well-bottle-wood-australia.html . Didier Drogba gave away the penalty that put Senegal one goal away from a major upset, but the veteran striker will get another chance -- probably his last -- at the World Cup after Salomon Kalous injury-time strike sealed the Ivorians place in Brazil next year. Swell Traveler Bottle Australia . Tests earlier this week revealed a Grade 2 left hamstring strain for Sabathia, who was hurt in last Fridays start against San Francisco. Its an injury that will require about eight weeks to heal. He finished a disappointing campaign just 14-13 with a career-worst 4. Swell Water Bottles Australia . They were putting most of their energy into a record-setting offensive display.Steve Evans said only the save of the season prevented Leeds taking maximum points against second-placed Middlesbrough on Monday night. Souleymane Doukaras second-half header was clawed out by Dimi Konstantopoulos, who also denied the Leeds striker in added time as a goalless draw kept Boro off top spot in the Championship on Monday night.The visitors had chances of their own before losing Ben Gibson to a late red card, Jordan Rhodes missing the best of them and also seeing a first-half goal controversially ruled out, but Evans afterwards told Sky Sports his side deserved to win. He said: Boro have classy footballers and theyre going to have little spells. They had 10 minutes in the first half and 10 in the second half, but thats 20 minutes out of 95 and for the other parts of the game, were largely on top.The keeper produces the save of the season from Doukaras header. Its a remarkable save and its a remarkable save in added time, too. Highlights from the goalless draw between Leeds and Middlesbrough They dont conede many and you can understand why, but people wil look on television tonight and say things are happening at Leeds that are very positive. My players deserved to win tonight, but didnt.There might be one or two chances thyll be disappointed with, but weve restricted them and full credit especially to my offensive players tonight.We only got a point for our efforts but its a wonderful performance compared to the last time we faced this team [Leeds lost 3-0 at Boro in September].Rhodes goal did not register after the officials wrongly ruled the ball was out before Emilio Nsue crossed from the right, a decision Aitor Karanka said was difficult to understand. Reaction from Middlesbrough manager Aitor Karanka Im starting to get a bit tired with some of the decisions, said Karanka, whose side are now five games without a win.ddddddddddddIt seems to be easy for the referee and with the yellow cards, its sometimes difficult to understand whats happening on the pitch. Rhodes (right) also missed two second-half chances to win it for Boro The Boro boss predicted an upturn in results, saying: We had a lot of chances to score and when playing in that way, we will start winning games because the team has played really well against a really good team with really good players.Promotion is going to be at the end of April or May. Now, we are in February and were in a good position. Were playing the way I like to play and with the players that I have, we will win games again. Middlesbrough keeper Dimitrios Konstantopoulos and man-of-the-match Toumani Diagouraga give their reaction Also See: Leeds 0-0 Middlesbrough Championship fixtures Table Live on Sky Get Sky Sports ' ' '