The English opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of statements made by captain Ben Stokes regarding the team environment not being "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered this message in several conversations in the wake of England's defeat in the second Ashes versus the Australians earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had let his message to "circulate freely" among the squad.
"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I required," remarked Stokes.
But, after the opener made 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, 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 a pinch of salt," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "weak men" comment subsequent to England were beaten in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.
The team afterwards went on a break to Noosa between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before this match, he said his team had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" 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 three years in charge.
"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's dismissal on day four came during a decisive triple-strike by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435.
Consequently, Australia require just four more wickets on the final day to move to an unassailable 3-0 advantage after three matches played.
Defeat will extend England's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes loss.
This series is set to be decided in only 11 days of play – after England fell the initial matches in rapid time each.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been determined so quickly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"It's disheartening," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll definitely view it like that," he continued.
"It's been tough. They're a formidable team. It was inevitably hard coming here to face them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
While Crawley's innings in Adelaide likely secures questions about his immediate future in the England team, Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in the team's second knock on Saturday, extending his poor record against Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has never made a half-century and boasts an average of just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
However, the opener insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – referring to 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. It is talk from the outside. There is no chat like that regarding Pope in the camp," he concluded.
