The English opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments made by captain Ben Stokes about the team environment as no place for "weak men".
Stokes made this message in multiple interviews in the wake of his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes against the Australians earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had allowed his message to "drift around" within the squad.
"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
But, after Crawley 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 everything that is said in the media with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to his side were beaten in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The England squad subsequently went on a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and third matches.
Before this match, he said his team had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay alive in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their previous three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," said Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of something special going into this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australia spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435.
Consequently, the home team require four wickets on the last day to move to an insurmountable three-nil advantage with three Tests.
Defeat would prolong England's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth successive away Ashes defeat.
The current battle will be completed in just eleven days of cricket – with England fell the initial matches in rapid time respectively.
The last time 1921, when Australia completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," said the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been difficult. They're a very, very good team. It was always going to be hard coming here against them. They were the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's innings in Adelaide likely secures questions about his short-term future in the England team, Pope looks under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 in England's second innings on day four, extending his modest returns against the old enemy.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, 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 an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
However, the opener insisted any suggestion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – referring to the press – "not inside the camp."
"We all know of his considerable talent," said he. "He has had a productive year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. It is talk externally. There is no chat of that nature regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
