England opener Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments from skipper Ben Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
Stokes delivered this message in several conversations following England's loss in the second match of the Ashes series versus the Australians previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I required," said Stokes.
However, following Crawley scored 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "weak men" comment after his side were beaten in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The team afterwards took a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he revealed his team had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay alive in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, Crawley stated the messaging from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their previous tenure in charge.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," said Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we could do something special entering this Test."
Australia Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's wicket late on Saturday was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australian spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a daunting total of 435 runs.
Consequently, Australia require four wickets on the final day to secure an unassailable 3-0 advantage with three Tests.
Defeat will extend England's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth straight overseas Ashes series loss.
This series will be completed in just eleven days of play – with England losing the first two Tests in rapid time each.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"It's disheartening," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we will definitely view it like that," he continued.
"The challenge has been tough. They're a very, very good side. It was inevitably hard touring here against them. They entered as the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's innings in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his immediate place in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
Pope was out for 17 runs in the team's second innings on day four, extending his poor record against Australia.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and averages 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and recorded a lower average.
However, Crawley insisted any notion his teammate is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – meaning the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said he. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has produced several excellent innings. This is noise from the outside. There is no discussion of that nature on Ollie in the camp," Crawley concluded.
