England opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of statements made by captain Ben Stokes about the team environment not being "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered this message in several interviews in the wake of England's loss in the second match of the Ashes versus Australia previously.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England now face defeat with a match to spare, the captain noted he had let his message to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
However, following the opener scored 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"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
Stokes made the "weak men" observation subsequent to his side were beaten in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards went on a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and third Tests.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes said his players had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, Crawley asserted the guidance from Stokes and coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," said the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do something special going into this Test."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's wicket late on Saturday came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435.
Consequently, Australia require four wickets on the final day to move to an insurmountable three-nil advantage with three Tests.
A loss will extend the English team's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes defeat.
The current battle will be completed in only eleven days of play – with England fell the initial matches in two and four days each.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disheartening," admitted Crawley. "We came here to win the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel at this point."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. They're a formidable team. It was inevitably hard touring here to face them. They entered as the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's performance in the third Test probably answers questions about his short-term future in the side, Ollie Pope appears under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in the team's second knock on Saturday, extending his modest returns against Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.
Only one other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and recorded a lower average.
However, Crawley insisted any suggestion his teammate is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has played several excellent innings. It is talk from the outside. There is no discussion of that nature regarding Pope amongst the players," he finished.
