The English opener Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments made by skipper Ben Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder delivered those words in several interviews in the wake of England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes versus the Australians previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had let his sentiment to "drift around" within the squad.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I required," said Stokes.
However, after Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "weak men" observation subsequent to his side were beaten in the second Test to go two matches behind.
The England squad subsequently went on a break to a Queensland resort 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 remain in contention in the series.
Yet, Crawley asserted the messaging from Stokes and head coach McCullum had stayed in line with their previous three years in leadership.
"It's been very positive, unchanged," said the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat going into this game."
Australia Close of Rapid Series Victory
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – meant England six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team need just four more wickets on the last day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 lead with three matches played.
A loss will extend the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth successive away Ashes defeat.
The current battle will be completed in just 11 days of cricket – with England fell the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," admitted the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we will definitely view it like that," he continued.
"The challenge has been tough. They're a formidable team. It was always going to be tough touring here to face them. They were the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While the opener's performance in the third Test probably answers questions about his short-term future in the side, Ollie Pope looks under threat for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 runs in England's second knock on Saturday, adding to his poor record against the old enemy.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and averages 17.62.
A solitary other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played as many times in the top six in Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.
However, Crawley insisted any suggestion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is talk from the outside. There's no discussion like that on Ollie in the camp," Crawley concluded.
