World Cup, hitting 46 against the Netherlands. He made 37 against India before 55 against the West Indies, although England lost the match by 5 wickets. This meant that England progress no further in the competition despite being on home soil. Australians Mitchell Johnson and Ricky Ponting stated to local media that during the upcoming 2009 Ashes series they were going to target Bopara in particular. On 22 June, the England selectors announced a sixteen-man preliminary Ashes squad for that summer's series; it included Bopara. Cricinfo staff wrote that "Bopara's stock could not be higher". He found success in a warm-up match against Warwickshire, however, scoring 104 while opening with Andrew Strauss. Bopara struggled during the series, however, with scores of 35, one, 18, 27, 23, one and a duck. He was dismissed by Ben Hilfenhaus in five of his seven innings. Speculation grew about his position for the final Test, where England required a win to regain the Ashes, and it was announced on 16 August that Bopara had been dropped in favour of uncapped Jonathan Trott, who went on to score a century on debut. Bopara returned to Essex and scored 201 against Surrey, and despite being replaced in the Test team remained in England's squads for the ODI series against Australia and the Champions Trophy in September. On 11 September 2009 it was announced that Bopara had been awarded an "incremental contract" with England, as had Trott. However, after the Champions Trophy Bopara did not play ODI cricket for ten months. 2010 Bangladesh and Pakistan Trott kept his Test place after his impressive debut, and Bopara saw Michael Carberry and Eoin Morgan make their Tests debuts in the away and home series against Bangladesh respectively, with Bopara making neither squad. However, some impressive form for Essex in domestic 40-over and Twenty20 cricket in 2010, as well as a century for the England Lions saw him recalled to the ODI team for the series decider against Bangladesh, after an injury to Ian Bell. Bopara hit a late innings of 45 not out from just 16 balls and took career-best ODI bowling figures of 4/38. His convincing performance led to his selection in the two-match T20 series against Pakistan. England won both matches, but Bopara had little impact, making scores of 11 and 12. Despite this, Bopara played in the ODI series, making 35 runs in the first game