England opener Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements from skipper Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered those words in multiple conversations following England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes versus Australia previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had let his sentiment to "drift around" within the squad.
"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I required," remarked Stokes.
But, after Crawley made a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to his side were beaten in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.
The team afterwards took a holiday to Noosa between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, he revealed his players had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their prior three years in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
Australia Close of Rapid Series Victory
The opener's wicket on day four came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Ben Stokes – meant England six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional total of 435.
Consequently, the home team require four wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 advantage with three matches played.
A loss would prolong the English team's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes series defeat.
This series is set to be decided in just 11 days of play – with England losing the initial matches in rapid time respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"It's disappointing," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're facing elimination now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will definitely view it with that mindset," he continued.
"The challenge has been difficult. They're a very, very good side. It was always going to be tough coming here against them. They were the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's innings in the third Test probably answers doubts about his short-term place in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 runs in England's second knock on day four, adding to his poor record against Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and recorded a lower average.
However, Crawley said any suggestion Pope is under the microscope comes from "you guys" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added he. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is noise from the outside. There's no chat like that regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
