The English opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments from skipper Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder delivered this message in several conversations following England's loss in the second Ashes series against the Australians earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where England now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" among the squad.
"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I required," said the England leader.
However, after Crawley scored 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the media with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "fragile individuals" comment after his side were beaten in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The team subsequently went on a holiday to Noosa between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he revealed his players had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from the captain and coach McCullum had stayed in line with their previous three years in charge.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do something special going into this game."
Australia On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal on day four came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – meant England 207-6 in pursuit of a notional total of 435 runs.
This means, the home team require just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 advantage with three matches played.
Defeat will extend England's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in just eleven days of play – after England losing the first two Tests in rapid time each.
Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"It's disappointing," said Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we will definitely view it like that," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been difficult. Australia is a very, very good side. It was always going to be hard touring here to face them. They were the favourites coming in to it they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
Although Crawley's performance in Adelaide probably answers questions about his immediate place in the side, Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in the team's second innings on day four, adding to his poor record versus Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and averages 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.
However, Crawley insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. It is talk from the outside. There's no chat like that on Ollie in the camp," he finished.
