England opener Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements from captain Ben Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered those words in multiple conversations in the wake of England's defeat in the second Ashes against Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had let his sentiment to "drift around" within the squad.
"I have completed all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
But, following the opener made 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. We take anything stated in the press with some skepticism," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "weak men" observation after England were beaten in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.
The team subsequently took a holiday to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he said his team had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to remain in contention in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from the captain and coach McCullum had remained in line with their prior tenure in charge.
"It's been very positive, unchanged," noted the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat entering this game."
Australia On the Verge of Rapid Ashes Triumph
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday came during a decisive triple-strike by Australia spinner Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a daunting total of 435.
This means, the home team need just four more wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an unassailable 3-0 lead with three matches played.
Defeat would prolong England's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth straight away Ashes series loss.
The current battle will be completed in just eleven days of cricket – after England fell the initial matches in two and four days each.
Not since 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined more swiftly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disheartening," admitted Crawley. "We came here to regain the Ashes and we're facing elimination at this point."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a formidable side. It was inevitably hard touring here against them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's performance in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his immediate future in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 runs in England's second innings on Saturday, adding to his poor record versus Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and boasts an average of just 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
But, the opener insisted any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope originates with "you guys" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said he. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. It is talk externally. There is no chat of that nature regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
