The English opener Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments from skipper Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
Stokes made those words in multiple conversations in the wake of England's loss in the second Ashes series against Australia previously.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
However, after the opener scored 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. Our approach is to take anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "fragile individuals" observation after his side were beaten in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.
The team afterwards went on a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, he revealed his team had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain alive in the series.
Yet, Crawley asserted the messaging from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had remained 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, play our way, with great liberty. It felt like we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Ashes Triumph
Crawley's dismissal on day four came during a crucial triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – meant England six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional target of 435 runs.
This means, Australia require four wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 lead after three matches played.
A loss would prolong England's winless run in this country to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth successive overseas Ashes series defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in only 11 days of cricket – with England fell the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"It's disheartening," said the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake 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 hard touring here against them. They entered as the favourites coming in to it they've proven why."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's performance in the third Test likely secures doubts about his immediate future in the side, Ollie Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in the team's second innings on Saturday, extending his poor record against the old enemy.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a half-century and averages just 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
But, the opener said any notion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "the media" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. It is noise externally. There's no discussion of that nature on Ollie in the camp," he concluded.
