While still basking in the immediate aftermath of England’s glorious Ashes triumph at the Brit Oval, Andrew Strauss challenged his players to stride forward and become the best Test side in the world.

They presently sit at No 5 in the ICC rankings and their lofty ambitions will be given the sternest of examinations almost immediately, with the tour this winter to South Africa, the No 1 side.

Some players have enhanced their reputations during this summer’s Ashes series, while the underachievers will be fearful of missing out on a seat on the plane. Here are the key issues that must be addressed by the England selectors.

How do England move forward now?

The two most encouraging features of England’s narrow win in the Ashes were that, under Andrew Strauss, more of the decisive periods of play were won than lost and that, under Andy Flower, the lessons of the past will, at last, be heeded.

It was the team director who insisted that there should be an extra match in the still dangerously brief lead-up to the next big challenge, the Test series in South Africa, and no doubt it was he — in close harmony with his captain as always — who made sure that any suggestions for over indulgent celebration this week were firmly rejected.

Both our Handy Andys know — and keep saying — that the England side are still evolving. Under Michael Vaughan and Duncan Fletcher in 2005, a more mature, better established, multitalented unit beat an Australia team with four great players — Warne, McGrath, Gilchrist and Ponting — plus one of huge achievement in Hayden and several others, such as Lee, Langer, Martyn and Katich, who were exceptional players.

The main reason for the relative disintegration of Vaughan’s fine team was the seriousness of the injuries to key players. The reason for Ponting’s second big disappointment is, of course, the retirement of so many champions. This time, however, England will have a serious chance of retaining the Ashes in 2010-11 if the selectors take decisions now that temper the need to remain on an upward path while keeping that series as the next focal point.

The selectors, Geoff Miller, James Whitaker and Ashley Giles, spend almost all their time watching county cricket, unlike newspaper editors who increasingly downgrade a county game that, for all its excess of fixtures, foreigners and flat pitches, provides the players for a national squad that cannot operate in a vacuum. Jonathan Trott’s wonderfully composed debut, significantly at the age of 28, proved that the system still produces tough cricketers.

Four of England’s top six in the final npower Test have scored a century in their first Test match. So much for the yawning gulf between Test and county cricket, but the two exceptions, Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell, along with Alastair Cook, who has marked time since his sparkling first appearance in Nagpur in March 2006, ought not to be guaranteed a place in the Test squad for South Africa. Who should?

Batsmen

It says much for Trott’s outstanding performance at the Oval that he will be the third name inked in by the selectors — after Strauss and Kevin Pietersen — when they pick their Test squad for South Africa. Provided that he overcomes an instinct to hit through mid-wicket before he is set, he has the temperament and, crucially, the technique to bat at No 3. So he could solve England’s problem spot despite Ian Bell’s important 72 in the first innings of the Oval Test. In particular, Trott played the short ball far better than Bell or Collingwood did, so much so that Australia quickly gave up digging it in to him until he was surprised by one bouncer from Mitchell Johnson.

He has usually batted four for Warwickshire, with Bell at three, but for England a middle order of Trott at three, Pietersen at four, Bell or Ravi Bopara at five and Matt Prior at six looks convincing for South Africa and the next Ashes series. It would not go unnoticed in the Rainbow Republic that Strauss and Prior were born in South Africa and that Pietersen and Trott learnt their cricket there.

Cook has scored only two hundreds, against a weakish West Indies attack, in his past 47 Test innings. If he were being challenged by alternative openers, there would be a strong case for his having a winter off to work on getting closer to the ball on the front foot, by angling his body forward over a bent left leg like Mike Hussey.

But Joe Denly, the next young opener, has had a modest season — 542 runs at 41 in the LV County Championship second division — so far. The 23-year-old really needs a strong finish. Robert Key, in the elite development squad, has not forced the issue his way, either. Michael Carberry should get the other reserve batting place after scoring 1,251 first-class runs at 61 before breaking his finger. He is electric in the field.

Stephen Moore, yet another South African-bred player not helped by a pushy agent, is getting closer after his 120 for England Lions against the Australians at Worcester, but the soundest-looking opener in county cricket, Arul Suppiah, of Somerset, has so far slipped below the radar. Take a closer look, Dusty.

They must move the batting on this winter. It is time for Paul Collingwood MBE, staunch hero in Cardiff, to concentrate on one-day international and Twenty20 cricket, in which he can still be a significant asset.

Fast bowlers

Sticking with Stuart Broad has been, with Trott’s selection, a triumph for the selection policies of Miller and his team, in close liaison with Strauss and Flower. If he keeps commercial forces to the background and England rest him when needed despite a groaning fixture overload between now and the next Ashes, Broad should be as feared an all-rounder even as Andrew Flintoff at his peak. With Broad at No 7, there will always be a choice between having three other fast bowlers or two plus two spinners.

James Anderson failed to lead the attack in Flintoff’s absence, but he can be a match for the best when his swing is under control. Stephen Harmison was equivocal about his future yesterday and will play for England this winter only if the selectors insist that they want him. It is much more likely that Graham Onions and Ryan Sidebottom will go. One reserve will be needed. Tim Bresnan is the best bet: a strong swing bowler, fine fielder and useful batsman.

Sajid Mahmood and Liam Plunkett still lack sufficient control. Chris Woakes and Steven Finn are the up-and-comers. Luke Wright needs one more season in first-class cricket before it is clear whether he could make Test level as an all-rounder.

Spinners

Graeme Swann, by skill, spunk and personality, has had a great summer. Monty Panesar has to prove his case afresh and could make no impression on South Africa last year. No doubt he will go to Bangladesh in the new year. Adil Rashid, bubbling with talent and in timely all-round form, must tour South Africa, not least because lower middle-order runs could be crucial again, both in South Africa and in Australia in 2010-11.

Wicketkeepers

It is a question now only of who becomes Prior’s second fiddle. His liaison with Bruce French has produced as clear a replacement for Alec Stewart as Broad is for Flintoff. As ever, the choice is wide, even omitting the consistently effective Chris Read.

Tim Ambrose, James Foster and Steven Davies head the list. I would go for Foster, the best ’keeper and a capable batsman.

My squad for South Africa
Strauss
Cook
Trott
Pietersen
Bell
Bopara
Prior
Broad
Swann
Sidebottom
Anderson
Onions
Rashid
Bresnan
Foster
Carberry