The English opener Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments made by skipper Ben Stokes regarding the team environment as no place for "weak men".
Stokes delivered this message in several conversations following England's loss in the second Ashes series against Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors now face defeat with a match to spare, the captain noted he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
However, after Crawley made 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to England were beaten in the second Test to go two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards went on a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Prior to this match, he revealed his team had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay alive in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the messaging from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their previous three years in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we could do something special going into this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's wicket on day four came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left England 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435 runs.
This means, Australia require four wickets on the final day to secure an unassailable 3-0 advantage with three matches played.
Defeat would prolong England's drought in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes defeat.
This series is set to be decided in only eleven days of play – after England fell the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.
The last time 1921, when Australia completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.
"It's disappointing," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we will definitely view it like that," he continued.
"It's been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was always going to be tough coming here to face them. They were the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
Although the opener's performance in the third Test likely secures doubts about his immediate place in the side, Ollie Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 in England's second innings on day four, adding to his modest returns against the old enemy.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
However, Crawley insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "He has had a productive year to be frank."
"He has played several excellent innings. It is talk from the outside. There's no chat of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," he finished.
