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.