The English opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of statements from captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder made this message in multiple interviews following England's defeat in the second Ashes versus the Australians previously.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" within the squad.
"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
But, following Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he commented: "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.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to England were beaten in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently went on a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before this match, he said his team had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain alive in the Ashes battle.
Yet, Crawley asserted the messaging from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted the opener. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional total of 435.
This means, the home team require four wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an insurmountable three-nil lead after three Tests.
Defeat would prolong the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes loss.
This series is set to be decided in only 11 days of play – with England losing the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," admitted Crawley. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains 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 team. It was inevitably tough coming here to face them. They were the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position In Question
Although the opener's performance in the third Test probably answers doubts about his short-term future in the England team, Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
Pope fell for 17 runs in the team's second innings on Saturday, extending his poor record against Australia.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
But, Crawley said any notion Pope is under the microscope comes from "you guys" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is talk externally. There's no discussion like that regarding Pope in the camp," Crawley finished.
