England opener Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of statements from captain Ben Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder made this message in several interviews in the wake of England's loss in the second match of the Ashes against the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" within the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
However, following the opener made 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 media with some skepticism," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "fragile individuals" comment after England were beaten in Brisbane to go two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards took a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and third matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes said his team had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay alive in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley stated the messaging from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their prior tenure in charge.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat entering this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
The opener's wicket on day four was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australia spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a notional total of 435 runs.
Consequently, Australia need four wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 lead after three matches played.
Defeat will extend England's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes series loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in only eleven days of play – with England fell the first two Tests in rapid time each.
The last time 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," admitted Crawley. "We came here to regain the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel now."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been tough. They're a formidable team. It was inevitably tough coming here against them. They were the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While the opener's innings in the third Test probably answers doubts about his immediate future in the side, Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 in England's second knock on Saturday, adding to his poor record against the old enemy.
In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a half-century and boasts an average of just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and recorded a lower average.
However, Crawley said any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "the media" – meaning the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. It is talk externally. There's no discussion like that regarding Pope amongst the players," he concluded.
