The English opener Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of statements from captain Ben Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
Stokes made those words in several conversations following England's loss in the second Ashes against the Australians previously.
Ahead of the third Test, where England are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had let his sentiment to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
But, after the opener scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate 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," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain issued his "weak men" observation subsequent to England suffered a loss in the second Test to go two matches behind.
The England squad subsequently took a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and third matches.
Prior to this match, Stokes said his team had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to remain alive in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from Stokes and coach McCullum had stayed in line with their previous three years in charge.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," noted Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat going into this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Ashes Triumph
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australian spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side 207-6 chasing a daunting total of 435 runs.
Consequently, Australia need four wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an unassailable three-nil lead after three matches played.
A loss would prolong England's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in only 11 days of play – after England losing the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"It's disappointing," said the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we will definitely view it like that," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been difficult. Australia is a very, very good side. It was inevitably tough coming here against them. They were the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's performance in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his short-term future in the England team, Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 runs in the team's second knock on day four, extending his poor record versus the old enemy.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has featured as many times 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 journalists – "not inside the camp."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "He has had a productive year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is talk externally. There is no chat of that nature on Ollie in the camp," he finished.
