The English opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments from skipper Ben Stokes regarding the team environment not being "weak men".
Stokes delivered this message in multiple interviews in the wake of England's loss in the second match of the Ashes series against the Australians earlier this month.
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 message to "drift around" among the squad.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," said Stokes.
But, after the opener scored 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
The captain issued his "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to his side suffered a loss in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The team subsequently took a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and third matches.
Before this match, he said his team had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley stated the messaging from Stokes and coach McCullum had remained consistent with their prior tenure in leadership.
"It's been very positive, unchanged," noted Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we were capable of an extraordinary feat entering this game."
Australia On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
The opener's dismissal on day four came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435 runs.
This means, Australia need just four more wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 advantage after three matches played.
Defeat would prolong England's winless run in this country to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth straight away Ashes loss.
This series is set to be decided in only 11 days of cricket – with England losing the initial matches in rapid time respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win 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 21st century.
"It's disheartening," said the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. Australia is a very, very good team. It was inevitably tough touring here against them. They were the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position In Question
Although Crawley's innings in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his short-term future in the side, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in England's second innings on day four, extending his poor record versus Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a half-century and averages just 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a lower average.
However, Crawley said any notion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "the media" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," added he. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is talk from the outside. There's no chat like that on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
