England opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements from skipper Ben Stokes about the team environment as no place for "weak men".
Stokes made those words in multiple conversations following England's defeat in the second Ashes versus Australia previously.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where England now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," said Stokes.
But, following the opener scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate 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 some skepticism," he added.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain issued his "weak men" observation subsequent to England suffered a loss in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards took a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before this match, he said his players had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the guidance from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their prior three years in charge.
"It's been very positive, the same as always," noted Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat going into this game."
The Hosts Close of Rapid Series Victory
The opener's wicket late on Saturday was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a notional total of 435 runs.
This means, the home team require four wickets on the final day to move to an insurmountable three-nil advantage with three matches played.
A loss would prolong England's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes defeat.
The current battle will be completed in just 11 days of play – with England losing the initial matches in rapid time each.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"It's disappointing," said the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it like that," he continued.
"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a very, very good side. It was inevitably tough touring here against them. They entered as the front-runners and they've proven why."
Pope's Position In Question
Although the opener's innings in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his short-term future in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under threat for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 in the team's second innings on Saturday, adding to his modest returns against Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has never made a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and recorded a lower average.
But, the opener insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised originates with "you guys" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is talk externally. There is no discussion like that on Ollie amongst the players," he finished.
