After Australia's humiliating defeat to India in the second test at Hyderabad - where they became the first side in test history to declare in the first innings but then lose by an innings - players were asked to identify three areas of possible improvement.
A failure to polish off the tail was also evident in the first Test of the series against India, when the tourists enjoyed a 10th-wicket stand of 111 in their first innings and recovered from 184-6 on the final day to reach the safety of 391-9 declared in the second innings of a drawn game at Trent Bridge.
As Australia often won by an innings, and declared in the first innings on many occasions, Saggers only had 12 innings in his 17 first-class fixtures and was not out three times after his remaining partners had been dismissed.
"The poem cannot live until it has been willing to die," Vernon Watkins declared in The Second Pressure on Poetry (Unicorn, X, Spring 1963, reproduced in The Prose of Vernon Watkins).
As Australia often won by an innings, and declared in the first innings many times due to their batting strength, Toshack only had 12 innings in his 15 first-class fixtures, never batted in the second innings, and scored 78 runs at 8.66.
When the home side crumbled to 205 in reply to Australia's 632 for 4 (declared) in the first innings at Lord's, Hughes had 12 wickets in three innings and England were in disarray.
Buttler, who ended the summer early by taking a break for mental fatigue, made just 23 of England's 598 for nine declared in the first innings of the draw in Abu Dhabi last week.
"Australia made 527-7 declared in the first innings here last year but we got lucky with the overheads.
In the second Test at Adelaide, England had made a mammoth 551-6 declared in the first innings and victory looked impossible for us.
"The written word hasn't kept up with the age," Brown declared in the first line.
