England opener Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements from skipper Ben Stokes about the team environment not being "weak men".
Stokes made this message in several conversations following England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series against Australia earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat with a match to spare, the captain stated he had allowed his message to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
However, following the opener made 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 media with some skepticism," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "weak men" comment subsequent to England suffered a loss in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards went on a holiday to Noosa in the gap between the second and third matches.
Before this match, he said his players had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the guidance from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent 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. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
Australia Close of Rapid Ashes Triumph
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – left England six down for 207 chasing a notional target of 435 runs.
This means, Australia require just four more wickets on Sunday's final day to secure an unassailable three-nil advantage after three Tests.
Defeat will extend England's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth successive away Ashes series defeat.
The current battle will be completed in just eleven days of cricket – after England losing the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," said Crawley. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are 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 tough. Australia is a formidable team. It was inevitably hard coming here to face them. They entered as the favourites coming in to it they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's innings in the third Test likely secures questions about his short-term place in the England team, Ollie Pope looks under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 in England's second knock on day four, adding to his modest returns against the old enemy.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and averages just 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
However, Crawley insisted any suggestion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – referring to the press – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. It is noise externally. There's no chat like that on Ollie amongst the players," he finished.
