England opener Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements from captain Ben Stokes about the team environment as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder delivered this message in several interviews following England's loss in the second match of the Ashes series versus Australia previously.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I needed to have done," said Stokes.
However, after the opener made a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the media with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "weak men" comment subsequent to his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to go two matches behind.
The team afterwards went on a break to a Queensland resort between the second and third Tests.
Before the Adelaide contest, he said his team had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from the captain and head coach McCullum had remained in line with their prior tenure in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. It felt like we were capable of something special going into this Test."
Australia On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's wicket on day four was part of a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Brook and Stokes himself – left England 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435.
Consequently, the home team require four wickets on the final day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 lead after three Tests.
A loss 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 is set to be decided in only eleven days of play – with England fell the initial matches in two and four days each.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," said the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we will definitely view it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a very, very good team. It was always going to be tough coming here against them. They were the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's performance in the third Test probably answers doubts about his short-term future in the England team, Pope appears under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in England's second knock on Saturday, adding to his poor record versus Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and averages 17.62.
Only one other England player in over a century – Amiss – has featured as many times in the top six in Ashes Tests and recorded a lower average.
However, Crawley insisted any suggestion Pope is under the microscope originates with "the media" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has produced several excellent innings. It is noise from the outside. There's no chat of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
