England opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments made by skipper Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered this message in multiple conversations in the wake of his team's loss in the second Ashes against the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat with a match to spare, the captain noted he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" within the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," said Stokes.
But, following the opener scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. We take everything that is said in the press with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "weak men" observation after his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.
The team subsequently took a holiday to Noosa between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before this match, Stokes said his players had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, Crawley asserted the messaging from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their previous three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," noted Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat entering this game."
Australia Close of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's wicket on day four was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side 207-6 chasing a daunting target of 435 runs.
This means, Australia need just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an unassailable three-nil advantage after three Tests.
Defeat would prolong England's winless run in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series loss.
This series will be completed in just 11 days of play – after England fell the initial matches in rapid time respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," said Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a very, very good side. It was always going to be tough touring here to face them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's innings in Adelaide probably answers questions about his short-term place in the side, Ollie Pope looks under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
Pope fell for 17 runs in England's second knock on Saturday, extending his poor record versus Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.
Only one other England player in over a century – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
But, the opener said any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is noise from the outside. There's no discussion of that nature regarding Pope amongst the players," he concluded.
