England opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements made by skipper Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
Stokes delivered those words in several conversations in the wake of his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes series against Australia previously.
Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had allowed his message to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," remarked the England leader.
However, after the opener made a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take anything stated in the press with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "weak men" observation subsequent to England were beaten in the second Test to go two matches behind.
The England squad subsequently took a break to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his team had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from the captain and head coach McCullum had remained consistent with their previous tenure in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of something special entering this game."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday came during a crucial triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left England 207-6 in pursuit of a notional total of 435 runs.
This means, the home team need just four more wickets on the last day to secure an unassailable 3-0 advantage with three Tests.
Defeat will extend the English team's drought in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes loss.
This series is set to be decided in just 11 days of cricket – after England fell the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when Australia completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined more swiftly. The hosts have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," said the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and we're facing elimination at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"The challenge has been tough. They're a formidable team. It was always going to be hard touring here against them. They were the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place In Question
While the opener's performance in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his immediate future in the side, Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
Pope fell for 17 runs in the team's second knock on Saturday, adding to his modest returns versus the old enemy.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.
Only one other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
But, Crawley said any notion Pope is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – meaning the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," added he. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is talk externally. There's no chat of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
