The English opener Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments made by captain Ben Stokes about the team environment as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder made those words in several conversations following England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes against Australia earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had allowed his message to "drift around" within the playing group.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I required," remarked Stokes.
But, following the opener scored 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," he added.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
Stokes issued his "weak men" comment subsequent to England were beaten in Brisbane to go two matches behind.
The team subsequently went on a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and third Tests.
Before the Adelaide contest, he revealed his team had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their prior tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," said the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of something special going into this Test."
Australia Close of Historic Series Victory
The opener's wicket late on Saturday came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant England six down for 207 chasing a daunting target of 435.
This means, the home team require four wickets on the last day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 advantage with three matches played.
A loss would prolong the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth straight away Ashes loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in just eleven days of play – after England losing the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"It's disappointing," admitted Crawley. "We came here to regain the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel now."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a very, very good side. It was inevitably hard touring here to face them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position In Question
Although Crawley's performance in Adelaide likely secures questions about his short-term place in the England team, Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 runs in the team's second knock on day four, adding to his modest returns versus the old enemy.
In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played as many times in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
However, Crawley insisted any suggestion Pope is under the microscope originates with "the media" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is noise externally. There's no chat of that nature on Ollie in the camp," Crawley finished.
