England opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of statements made by skipper Ben Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered this message in multiple interviews following England's defeat in the second Ashes series versus the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had let his message to "drift around" among the squad.
"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I required," remarked Stokes.
However, following the opener scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, 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 a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "fragile individuals" observation subsequent to England suffered a loss in Brisbane to go two matches behind.
The team afterwards took a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third matches.
Before this match, he said his players had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the guidance from the captain and head coach McCullum had stayed in line with their prior tenure in leadership.
"It's been very positive, unchanged," noted Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
The Hosts Close of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's wicket on day four was part of a crucial three-wicket burst by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant England six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional total of 435 runs.
This means, the home team need four wickets on the last day to move to an insurmountable three-nil advantage after three matches played.
A loss would prolong the English team's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes series defeat.
This series is set to be decided in just eleven days of cricket – with England losing the first two Tests in two and four days each.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're facing elimination at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll definitely view it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a formidable side. It was always going to be hard coming here to face them. They entered as the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's innings in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his immediate place in the England team, Ollie Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
Pope was out for 17 runs in England's second innings on Saturday, adding to his poor record versus Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in the Ashes and recorded a poorer average.
But, the opener said any notion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "you guys" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year to be frank."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is noise from the outside. There is no chat of that nature regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley finished.
