England opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements from skipper Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
Stokes delivered those words in several conversations following his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes series versus the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face defeat with a match to spare, the captain stated he had let his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the squad.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
But, after Crawley scored 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 anything stated in the press with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "fragile individuals" observation subsequent to his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to go two matches behind.
The team subsequently went on a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes said his team had held "raw" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay in contention in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from Stokes and coach McCullum had remained consistent with their prior tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," said the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do something special going into this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's wicket late on Saturday came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional total of 435 runs.
This means, the home team need just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an unassailable three-nil advantage with three matches played.
Defeat will extend the English team's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth successive away Ashes series loss.
This series will be completed in only 11 days of play – after England losing the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.
The last time 1921, when Australia completed a series win in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided so quickly. The hosts have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," said Crawley. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we will definitely view it like that," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been tough. They're a formidable team. It was inevitably hard touring here to face them. They entered as the front-runners and they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
Although Crawley's innings in the third Test probably answers doubts about his short-term place in the England team, Ollie Pope looks under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
Pope was out for 17 in England's second knock on day four, adding to his modest returns against the old enemy.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
However, Crawley insisted any suggestion Pope is under the microscope comes from "the media" – referring to the press – "not inside the camp."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added he. "He has had a productive year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. It is talk from the outside. There's no chat of that nature regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
