The English opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments made by skipper Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder delivered those words in multiple conversations in the wake of his team's defeat in the second Ashes series against Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, Stokes stated he had let his message to "drift around" within the squad.
"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
However, following the opener scored 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"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.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "fragile individuals" comment after his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to go two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards went on a break to Noosa between the second and third matches.
Before this match, he said his team had held "raw" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from the captain and coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their previous three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
The Hosts Close of Rapid Ashes Triumph
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a crucial three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435.
Consequently, the home team require just four more wickets on the final day to move to an insurmountable three-nil lead with three matches played.
Defeat will extend England's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes series loss.
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 Australia completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," said the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're facing elimination now."
"There remains plenty to play for and we will certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a very, very good team. It was always going to be tough touring here against them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."
Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's innings in the third Test probably answers questions about his immediate place in the England team, Ollie Pope looks under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
Pope fell for 17 in England's second innings on Saturday, extending his modest returns against Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and averages just 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played as many times in the top six in Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.
However, Crawley insisted any notion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is noise from the outside. There is no discussion like that on Ollie amongst the players," he concluded.
