Test captain Temba Bavuma, batters Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs and David Bedingham, allrounders Wiaan Mulder, Marco Jansen and Senuran Muthusamy, and bowlers Keshav Maharaj, Simon Harmer, Lungi Ngidi, Ottneil Baartman and Dane Paterson will all be in action in South Africa's first-class season openers from Thursday.
These 12 players are expected to be part of a busy home summer, which includes eight home Tests and two away fixtures in the next seven months, as South Africa look to defend their World Test Championship title.
Kyle Verreynne, Bedingham and Harmer were recalled from their county stints in England to fulfil their duties as nationally contracted players (Harmer is on a hybrid deal) at the start of the South African domestic season. Ngidi returned from the European T20 Premier League, where he was playing for Glasgow Cosmic.
For the first time since the restructure six summers ago, when South Africa moved from a six-team franchise set-up to a two-tier, 15-team domestic competition, Division 1 sides will play 10 red-ball games, an increase from their previous seven.
Given the schedule, South Africa's national players are rarely available for these matches but in recent years there has been a push to include as many as possible in order to prepare them for a Test season.
For next week's fixtures, players from the ODI squad currently in Namibia, which includes Dewald Brevis, and the South Africa A squad playing Bangladesh A, which includes Zubayr Hamza, who are not in South Africa's ODI squad to face Australia, will be available for their domestic sides.
"Everybody that is not here or in the A side will be playing the first round of first-class cricket," South Africa's head coach Shukri Conrad said from Namibia. "And everyone not in the ODI squad will play in the second round."
That means the only players without red-ball match practice before the home Tests against Australia will be Aiden Markram, Corbin Bosch, Kwena Maphaka and Gerald Coetzee. Markram has not played any cricket since returning home early from the Hundred and remains unavailable for personal reasons. He has been named in the ODI squad to face Australia.
Most of South Africa's leading bowlers are involved in white-ball games, and the longer format loads may be a concern ahead of the Tests, especially given the injury to the leader of the attack, Kagiso Rabada. He is out of action for September as he recovers from the hamstring injury he suffered during winter training. A call will be taken on his availability closer to the start of the Test series on October 9.
Leus du Plooy eligible for South Africa immediately
Pretoria-born, Middlesex-based Leus du Plooy will be eligible for South Africa selection immediately upon his return to the country, though that date is unknown.
Du Plooy, a middle-order batter, was expected to arrive in South Africa after the end of the English county season but his status is currently under legal review following his announcement that he intended to give up his UK local-player privilege to try and get into the South African side. He will join the Centurion-based Titans as a local player and is expected to play all formats once he arrives in South Africa.
The Titans admitted to being surprised by du Plooy's availability as a local, having had no word that he was planning on returning to his homeland. Titans CEO Jacques Faul told Cricinfo they would "welcome" him back into the system. Should Middlesex succeed in retaining du Plooy's services, he will play the one-day cup final on September 20 and only be back in South Africa in time for the domestic T20 tournament, which starts on September 22.
Red-ball cricket returns in November, and again in April, which gives du Plooy plenty of time to prove himself for the national side. Cricinfo understands that while several coaches in the South African system, including Joburg Super Kings and Titans' assistant coach Albie Morkel, have been impressed with du Plooy, there have been no discussions between du Plooy and Conrad but those may yet take place.
