The English opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements from skipper Ben Stokes regarding the team environment not being "weak men".
Stokes made this message in multiple interviews in the wake of England's defeat in the second Ashes series versus Australia earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes stated he had let his message to "drift around" within the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
However, following the opener made a knock of 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "weak men" comment subsequent to his side were beaten in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards went on a break to Noosa between the second and third Tests.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his team had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach McCullum had stayed in line with their previous tenure in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we were capable of something special going into this game."
Australia Close of Rapid Ashes Triumph
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side 207-6 chasing a notional target of 435.
Consequently, Australia require just four more wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 lead after three matches played.
A loss will extend England's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes defeat.
This series will be completed in only eleven days of cricket – after England fell the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"It's disappointing," said the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we will definitely view it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. They're a formidable side. It was always going to be tough coming here to face them. They entered as the favourites and they've proven why."
Pope's Place In Question
While the opener's performance in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his immediate place in the side, Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
Pope fell for 17 runs in England's second innings on day four, extending his poor record versus the old enemy.
In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and averages 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
But, Crawley said any notion his teammate is under the microscope originates with "the media" – meaning the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is noise externally. There's no chat like that on Ollie amongst the players," he finished.
