England opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of statements made by skipper Ben Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".
Stokes made those words in multiple interviews in the wake of his team's defeat in the second Ashes against the Australians previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England now face defeat with a match to spare, the captain noted he had allowed his message to "drift around" within the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," remarked Stokes.
However, following the opener made a knock of 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 some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "weak men" comment subsequent to England were beaten in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.
The team subsequently took a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third Tests.
Prior to this match, Stokes said his team had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay in contention in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their prior tenure in charge.
"It's been very positive, the same as always," said the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat entering this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Ashes Triumph
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday was part of a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side 207-6 chasing a daunting target of 435 runs.
Consequently, Australia require four wickets on Sunday's final day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 advantage after three Tests.
A loss would prolong the English team's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth successive away Ashes series loss.
The current battle will be completed in only 11 days of play – with England fell the first two Tests in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided so quickly. The hosts have also won in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," said the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been tough. They're a formidable team. It was always going to be hard touring here against them. They were the front-runners and they've proven why."
Pope's Place In Question
Although the opener's innings in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his immediate future in the England team, Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in England's second innings on day four, adding to his modest returns against the old enemy.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a half-century and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
However, Crawley insisted any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "you guys" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added he. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has produced some really good knocks. It is talk externally. There's no discussion like that on Ollie in the camp," Crawley finished.
