The English opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of statements made by captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered those words in multiple conversations in the wake of England's loss in the second Ashes series against Australia previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had let his message to "circulate freely" within the playing group.
"I have completed all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
But, after the opener 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 everything that is said in the press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "weak men" observation subsequent to his side were beaten in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards took a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before this match, Stokes revealed his team had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the guidance from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior tenure in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do something special entering this game."
Australia Close of Rapid Series Victory
The opener's wicket on day four came during a decisive triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435.
Consequently, Australia require just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an unassailable three-nil advantage after three Tests.
Defeat would prolong the English team's drought in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes defeat.
This series is set to be decided in just 11 days of cricket – with England losing the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're facing elimination at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we will definitely view it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a very, very good team. It was always going to be hard coming here against them. They were the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While the opener's innings in Adelaide likely secures questions about his short-term future in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under threat for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in the team's second knock on day four, adding to his modest returns versus the old enemy.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a fifty and averages 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
But, Crawley said any notion his teammate is under the microscope originates with "the media" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is noise from the outside. There's no discussion of that nature on Ollie in the camp," he finished.
