England opener Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments made by skipper Ben Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
Stokes delivered those words in several interviews in the wake of his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes series versus Australia earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had let his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the squad.
"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
However, after Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. We take anything stated in the media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to England were beaten in Brisbane to go two matches behind.
The team subsequently went on a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his team had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to remain alive in the Ashes battle.
Yet, Crawley stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior three years in charge.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. It felt like we could do something special going into this game."
Australia On the Verge of Rapid Ashes Triumph
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday came during a decisive triple-strike by Australian spinner Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Brook and Stokes himself – meant England six down for 207 chasing a notional total of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team need just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 advantage with three matches played.
Defeat would prolong the English team's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth successive away Ashes series defeat.
This series is set to be decided in only eleven days of play – after England fell the first two Tests in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when Australia completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," said the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and we're facing elimination at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll definitely view it like that," he continued.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a very, very good team. It was inevitably tough touring here against them. They entered as the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's innings in the third Test probably answers doubts about his short-term future in the side, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 in England's second innings on Saturday, adding to his poor record versus the old enemy.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a half-century and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
But, the opener said any suggestion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said he. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has produced several excellent innings. This is noise externally. There's no chat like that regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
