England opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments made by skipper Ben Stokes regarding the team environment not being "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder delivered this message in several interviews following his team's loss in the second Ashes series against Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where England are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had allowed his message to "drift around" within the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
But, after the opener scored 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. We take anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "weak men" observation after England suffered a loss in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently went on a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he said his team had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their previous tenure in charge.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted the opener. "It's just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we were capable of something special entering this game."
Australia On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a daunting target of 435.
This means, the home team require just four more wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 advantage with three matches played.
A loss will extend the English team's drought in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes series defeat.
This series is set to be decided in only 11 days of play – after England fell the initial matches in rapid time respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," said the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. They're a formidable team. It was always going to be tough coming here to face them. They were the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
While the opener's performance in the third Test probably answers questions about his immediate place in the side, Pope looks under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 in England's second knock on day four, adding to his poor record against Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has played as many times in the top six in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
However, the opener insisted any suggestion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – referring to the press – "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 played several excellent innings. It is talk externally. There's no chat like that regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley finished.
