The English opener Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments from captain Ben Stokes about the team environment not being "weak men".
Stokes delivered those words in several conversations following his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes series versus the Australians previously.
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" among the playing group.
"I have completed all the talking over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
But, following Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "weak men" observation subsequent to his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards took a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third Tests.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he said his players had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to remain in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the guidance from the captain and head coach McCullum had remained in line with their prior three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do something special entering this game."
The Hosts Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's wicket on day four was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australian spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant England 207-6 chasing a notional total of 435.
This means, the home team require just four more wickets on the last day to secure an unassailable 3-0 advantage with three Tests.
A loss will extend England's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes series defeat.
This series is set to be decided in only 11 days of cricket – with England losing the first two Tests in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.
"It's disheartening," admitted the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and we're facing elimination at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been difficult. Australia is a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard coming here against them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position In Question
Although the opener's performance in Adelaide probably answers questions about his immediate future in the side, Pope looks under threat for his position in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
Pope was out for 17 in the team's second knock on Saturday, adding to his poor record against the old enemy.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and averages just 17.62.
Only one other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
However, the opener said any suggestion Pope is under the microscope comes from "you guys" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is talk externally. There is no discussion of that nature regarding Pope amongst the players," he finished.
