The English opener Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments from skipper Ben Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder made this message in multiple conversations following England's loss in the second match of the Ashes series versus Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had allowed his message to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," said Stokes.
But, following the opener scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "weak men" observation after his side were beaten in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently went on a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and third matches.
Prior to this match, he said his players had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to remain in contention in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their prior three years in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this Test."
The Hosts Close of Rapid Series Victory
The opener's wicket on day four was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a notional target of 435.
Consequently, Australia require four wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 advantage with three Tests.
A loss will extend England's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes series loss.
This series is set to be decided in just eleven days of cricket – with England fell the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," said the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel now."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. They're a very, very good team. It was always going to be hard touring here against them. They were the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's performance in the third Test likely secures questions about his immediate future in the England team, Pope looks under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in the team's second knock on day four, adding to his modest returns versus the old enemy.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a fifty and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a lower average.
However, the opener insisted any notion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – referring to 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 to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. It is talk externally. There is no chat like that regarding Pope in the camp," he concluded.
