England opener Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with statements made by captain Ben Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
Stokes made those words in several conversations in the wake of England's defeat in the second Ashes versus the Australians previously.
Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, the captain stated he had let his message to "drift around" among the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
However, following Crawley scored 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
Stokes issued his "fragile individuals" comment after England were beaten in the second Test to go two matches behind.
The team subsequently went on a holiday to Noosa between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before the Adelaide contest, he revealed his team had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay alive in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley stated the guidance from the captain and coach McCullum had remained in line with their previous three years in leadership.
"It's been very positive, unchanged," noted Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Ashes Triumph
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australia spinner Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant England 207-6 in pursuit of a notional target of 435.
Consequently, the home team need four wickets on the last day to move to an insurmountable three-nil lead with three matches played.
Defeat will extend England's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes series loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in just 11 days of cricket – with England losing the first two Tests in two and four days each.
Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"It's disappointing," said Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're facing elimination at this point."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will definitely view it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. Australia is a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard touring here to face them. They were the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's performance in Adelaide likely secures questions about his immediate place in the side, Pope looks under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 runs in the team's second innings on day four, adding to his modest returns versus Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
However, Crawley insisted any suggestion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – referring to the press – "not inside the camp."
"We all know of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year to be frank."
"He has produced several excellent innings. This is noise from the outside. There is no discussion like that on Ollie amongst the players," he finished.
