The English opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments made by captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder made this message in several interviews following England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes versus the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the playing group.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
However, after the opener 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," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to England suffered a loss in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently took a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to this match, he revealed his team had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from Stokes and coach McCullum had stayed in line with their previous tenure in charge.
"The atmosphere has 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 game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Ashes Triumph
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday came during a crucial triple-strike by Australia spinner Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left England 207-6 chasing a daunting total of 435 runs.
This means, the home team need just four more wickets on the last day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 advantage after three Tests.
A loss would prolong the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in just eleven days of cricket – after England losing the first two Tests in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"It's disheartening," admitted the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and we're facing elimination at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we will certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a very, very good team. It was always going to be hard touring here to face them. They were the front-runners and they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's performance in the third Test probably answers questions about his immediate future in the side, Ollie Pope looks under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 runs in England's second innings on day four, extending his poor record versus Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
But, the opener said any suggestion Pope is under the microscope comes from "the media" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year if I'm honest."
"He has produced several excellent innings. This is talk externally. There's no discussion like that on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley finished.
