England opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements from skipper Ben Stokes regarding the team environment not being "weak men".
Stokes delivered those words in multiple conversations following his team's loss in the second Ashes against Australia earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes stated he had let his sentiment to "drift around" within the squad.
"I have completed all the talking over the past two days that I required," said Stokes.
However, following the opener made 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "fragile individuals" comment after his side were beaten in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards took a holiday to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his team had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to remain alive in the series.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their previous three years in charge.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do something special going into this game."
Australia On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday came during a decisive triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left England six down for 207 chasing a daunting total of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team require four wickets on the final day to move to an unassailable three-nil advantage after three Tests.
Defeat would prolong England's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes series defeat.
This series will be completed in only 11 days of cricket – with England fell the first two Tests in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when Australia sealed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"It's disappointing," said Crawley. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we will certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. They're a very, very good team. It was always going to be tough coming here against them. They entered as the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's performance in the third Test probably answers doubts about his short-term future in the side, Pope looks under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in England's second innings on Saturday, extending his modest returns versus Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has never made a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has played as many times in the top six in Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.
But, Crawley insisted any notion Pope is under the microscope comes from "the media" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," added he. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is noise externally. There is no chat like that regarding Pope amongst the players," he concluded.
