England opener Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments from captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "weak men".
The all-rounder made those words in several conversations in the wake of England's loss in the second match of the Ashes series versus the Australians previously.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, Stokes stated he had let his message to "drift around" within the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
However, following the opener scored 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
Stokes made the "weak men" comment after his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards went on a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third Tests.
Prior to this match, Stokes revealed his players had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay alive in the Ashes battle.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their prior three years in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said the opener. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. It felt like we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's wicket late on Saturday came during a decisive triple-strike by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a daunting total of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team need just four more wickets on the final day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 lead with three matches played.
Defeat will extend England's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in only 11 days of play – with England fell the initial matches in two and four days each.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been determined so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," said Crawley. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a very, very good side. It was inevitably hard touring here against them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's innings in Adelaide likely secures questions about his short-term future in the side, Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 in England's second innings on Saturday, extending his poor record against the old enemy.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
Only one other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played as many times in the top six in Ashes Tests and recorded a lower average.
However, Crawley insisted any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "the media" – meaning the press – "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 is no chat of that nature on Ollie in the camp," he finished.
