The English opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with statements made by captain Ben Stokes about the team environment not being "weak men".
Stokes delivered this message in multiple conversations following his team's loss in the second Ashes versus Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where England now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had let his sentiment to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," said Stokes.
However, after Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching 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 "weak men" comment subsequent to his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.
The team subsequently took a holiday to Noosa between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, he revealed his players had held "raw" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay in contention in the series.
Yet, Crawley asserted the guidance from Stokes and head coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior three years in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we were capable of something special going into this Test."
The Hosts Close of Rapid Series Victory
The opener's dismissal on day four was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Brook and Stokes himself – meant England 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435 runs.
This means, the home team require four wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an unassailable 3-0 advantage after three matches played.
Defeat would prolong England's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in only 11 days of cricket – after England losing the initial matches in rapid time respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed a series win in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"It's disappointing," said the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will definitely view it like that," he continued.
"It's been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was always going to be hard coming here against them. They were the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
While the opener's innings in Adelaide probably answers questions about his short-term place in the side, Ollie Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
Pope was out for 17 in England's second knock on Saturday, adding to his modest returns against the old enemy.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has never made a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
But, the opener insisted any notion Pope is under the microscope originates with "the media" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," added Crawley. "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 in the camp," he concluded.
