The English opener Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments from captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder made this message in several conversations in the wake of England's loss in the second match of the Ashes series versus Australia previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at defeat with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had allowed his message to "drift around" within the squad.
"I have completed all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," said Stokes.
However, following the opener scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
Stokes made the "weak men" comment after England suffered a loss in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.
The team subsequently went on a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before this match, Stokes said his team had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their prior tenure in charge.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," noted the opener. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat going into this game."
Australia On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
The opener's wicket late on Saturday was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side 207-6 chasing a notional target of 435.
This means, the home team require four wickets on the last day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 lead after three matches played.
Defeat will extend the English team's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth successive away Ashes series defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in just 11 days of play – with England losing the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.
The last time 1921, when Australia sealed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," said Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we will definitely view it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been tough. Australia is a very, very good team. It was inevitably tough coming here to face them. They were the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Position In Question
Although Crawley's performance in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his short-term place in the side, Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 in England's second knock on day four, adding to his poor record against Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
But, the opener said any suggestion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added 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 in the camp," he concluded.
