It was one of the most talked about declarations by an Australian captain in recent history.

And Tim Paine on Sunday explained the timing of the decision to call in David Warner on 335 not out the previous day, which meant the opener wouldn't get a dash at Matthew Hayden's Australian best of 380 or potentially even Brian Lara's world record 400.

"It’s a tough one no doubt. Everyone would have loved to have seen the 400 mark get beaten but unfortunately with the weather that’s around we made a decision as a team that we put in place a time,” Paine told Seven.

“Davey was part of that decision and was all for it. We’re here to win Test matches and with the Test Championship now, there is 60 points on the line. If we had of kept batting and it rained for a day – and I think there’s a bit around on day five as well – we would be kicking ourselves."