England opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments made by skipper Ben Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".
Stokes delivered this message in multiple conversations following England's defeat in the second Ashes against the Australians previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the playing group.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," remarked Stokes.
But, after Crawley scored 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
The captain made the "fragile individuals" comment after England were beaten in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently took a holiday to Noosa between the second and third Tests.
Prior to this match, he said his team had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their previous three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. It felt like we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – meant England 207-6 in pursuit of a notional target of 435 runs.
This means, the home team need four wickets on the last day to move to an insurmountable three-nil lead with three matches played.
Defeat would prolong England's winless run in this country to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth successive overseas Ashes defeat.
This series will be completed in just eleven days of play – with England losing the initial matches in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.
"It's disheartening," said the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and we're facing elimination at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we will definitely view it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a very, very good team. It was always going to be hard coming here to face them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."
Pope's Position In Question
Although Crawley's innings in the third Test probably answers doubts about his short-term place in the side, Pope appears under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 runs in England's second knock on day four, adding to his poor record against the old enemy.
In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.
Only one other England player in over a century – 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 Pope is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added Crawley. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. It is noise from the outside. There's no chat like that on Ollie amongst the players," he finished.
