Given the headlines the England Test side have made over the last 10 months, it will jar to fault them for a lack of indulgence. But a group accused of not knowing when to call time off the field will finish this summer regretting the glasses left half full out in the middle.
With Pakistan closing day two still 268 behind in their second innings, the smart (and dumb) money is on England's batting being done for the summer. And with that comes some awkward introspection even with a second innings victory of the series looming.
Knocks of 60 from Emilio Gay, 75 from Harry Brook, 65 from Dan Lawrence, 69 from Jamie Smith and even a round 50 for Ollie Robinson made it 22 50-plus scores for England this summer. Only one has been converted - Ben Duckett's 113 in the third Test against New Zealand. It means the hosts will finish the season with just a single individual century, the fewest they have managed since not registering one at all in the summer of '99.
There have been plenty of reasons posited as to why batting numbers have waned. It has been famine compared to last year, when England converted 12 of their 26 fifties on admittedly flatter pitches. A dry 2026 - a world away from the cold showers that curtailed Thursday's evening session - has given ground staff little to work with, even with the moisture over the last month. The schedule, too, remains a hindrance.
Joe Root wondered if a reinforced Dukes seam that has been denting his bats in the nets and his front pad in-play is the cause for lower batting (and bowling) averages across the board. The great and good of Test cricket past have been more cutting with their theories. Steve Waugh thinks modern batters are out of sync with the format. Matthew Hayden reckons it's simpler than that - Test batting is being dumbed down, both here and in Australia, which suggests next summer's Ashes could be a stupid-off.
All of the above may well be true. But England's lack of individual hundreds speaks more to a failing of individual hunger rather than circumstances. Conditions, for instance, did not seem to hamper New Zealand, who played 14 days of cricket in June and left with five centuries to accompany their 2-1 series win.
There's no diplomatic way to put this: this is an appalling Pakistan side and an attack there to be feasted upon. Mohammad Abbas aside, there is no real threat - of dismissal and certainly physical harm as there might have been with Pakistan bowlers of the past.
The latter is particularly important when you consider how the pace in England's attack has exacerbated the indecision which Ollie Robinson, the slowest and most consistent bowler, has profited from handsomely. The latest cashing in came in the opening over of Pakistan's second innings, Saim Ayub driving the first ball to second slip before Abdullah Shafique did similar, low to Root at first.
Indeed, it was England's bowlers, led by Robinson, who highlighted how wasteful the home batters have been. Even with Razaullah adding some much-needed oomph to Pakistan's bowling collective, England's Nos. 9, 10 and 11 scored 97 between them - the most since March 2022, when Craig Overton, Jack Leach and Saqib Mahmood toughed out 104 at the National Stadium in St George's.
As ever, Brook emerges as the most frustrating case, his tip and run to midwicket a new take on a familiar "Harry-kiri". He could have doubled his score without any fuss but instead has to make do with a fifth half-century from 10 innings this summer. That includes a 91 at Headingley in the first Pakistan Test, which is set to finish as England's highest score of the series.
The vice-captain's average of 43.2 is not bad at all. But Brook is too good a batter - the No. 1 ranked in the world, in fact - to be satisfied with that figure, or not be deeply frustrated as his wait for an 11th Test century extends to 20 innings. Even his 10th, in the 2025 season's last Test against India, was short of what he was capable of and what England required to seal the match and the series.
It was left to Lawrence to articulate Brook's frustration at stumps on day two. The pair had combined for a motoring 120-run stand before Brook brought it to a premature end.
"I probably can't repeat it in front of everyone," Lawrence said when asked about Brook's reaction to barbecuing himself. "He was obviously gutted. He was playing beautifully, as he always does. Both of us had chances to make massive scores there, but… yeah, I'm not sure he was too chuffed with running himself out."
Lawrence was in similar, self-flagellating mood. Fresh to the team in a new role as batting allrounder, there was satisfaction at a third fifty in as many Tests. But the Surrey batter admitted he was "gutted" at not cashing in given the circumstances, as evidenced by the yelp of disappointment when he scuffed the forgettable medium pace of Mohammad Imran Randhawa onto his stumps with a lazy drive.
"I felt like I was playing really nicely, and it was a really good surface to bat on, against a tiring attack at that stage," Lawrence said. "I thought I was gonna make a really big score, to be honest, but wasn't meant to be. But I think if I was offered 65 at the start of the day, I'd have taken it.
"I think overall, I've missed out on two chances to make really big scores and really big contributions - as in Headingley [where he made 51] and here. But I am really happy with how I've played. I mean, I've got three fifties in four innings, which is pretty good and got run out in the other. In regards to position in the team, only the selectors and the captain will know that. But I'm pretty happy with how I've contributed and we'll see what happens."
Lawrence knows he'd have been surer of his place with a century. The personal benefits of the Test hundred have never waned through time. Milestones bring security, even for someone whose re-entry to the team has come as much through his offering of spin as his domestic form with the bat.
Ben Stokes hated the term ruthless, but now that he is no longer captain, let's assume it is no longer on the banned list. Because it is exactly what this Test team, particularly its batters, lacked towards the end of his tenure.
There are only so many worthwhile conclusions to take from a dull series against such tame opponents. But one of them should be that England's batters have not been ruthless enough. While they learn moderation off the field, they could do with adopting some greed, even a bit of excess, on it.