England opener Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements made by captain Ben Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
Stokes delivered those words in multiple interviews following his team'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 "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I required," said Stokes.
However, following Crawley made a knock of 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. We take everything that is said in the press with some skepticism," he added.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain made the "weak men" observation subsequent to England suffered a loss in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The team afterwards went on a holiday to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Prior to this match, Stokes said his players had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain alive in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, Crawley stated the messaging from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their previous three years in charge.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat entering this game."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday was part of a crucial three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435 runs.
This means, Australia require four wickets on the last day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 advantage with three Tests.
Defeat will extend England's winless run in this country to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth straight overseas Ashes series defeat.
This series is set to be decided in just eleven days of play – with England losing the initial matches in two and four days each.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disheartening," said the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we will definitely view it like that," he continued.
"It's been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard coming here to face them. They were the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's performance in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his immediate future in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 runs in the team's second innings on Saturday, adding to his modest returns against the old enemy.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and averages 17.62.
A solitary other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.
But, the opener said any notion Pope is under the microscope originates with "the media" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has produced several excellent innings. It is noise externally. There's no discussion like that on Ollie in the camp," he finished.
