England opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments from captain Ben Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder made those words in several conversations following England's loss in the second Ashes versus Australia previously.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
However, after Crawley scored 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with some skepticism," he added.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
Stokes issued his "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to England suffered a loss in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards took a break to Noosa between the second and third matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he revealed his players had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay alive in the series.
Yet, Crawley stated the messaging from the captain and head coach McCullum had remained in line with their previous three years in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with great liberty. It felt like we were capable of something special entering this game."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a crucial three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435.
This means, Australia require just four more wickets on the last day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 lead with three matches played.
A loss will extend England's winless run in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series defeat.
This series will be completed in only eleven days of cricket – after England fell the first two Tests in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," admitted the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are 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 tough. Australia is a very, very good side. It was inevitably tough coming here against them. They were the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's innings in the third Test likely secures questions about his short-term future in the side, Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
Pope was out for 17 in the team's second knock on Saturday, adding to his poor record against Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and averages 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
But, Crawley insisted any notion Pope is under the microscope comes from "the media" – 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 good year if I'm honest."
"He has produced several excellent innings. This is talk externally. There is no chat of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," Crawley concluded.
