England opener Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with statements from captain Ben Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".
Stokes delivered this message in several interviews in the wake of his team's defeat in the second Ashes series versus Australia earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had let his message to "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
But, after the opener made a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the press with some skepticism," he added.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain issued his "weak men" comment after England suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.
The England squad subsequently took a holiday to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to this match, he revealed his players had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain alive in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their previous tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," said Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we were capable of something special entering this game."
Australia Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's wicket late on Saturday came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – meant England 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435.
Consequently, the home team need just four more wickets on the final day to secure an insurmountable three-nil lead after three matches played.
Defeat will extend England's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes series defeat.
This series is set to be decided in just 11 days of play – with England losing the first two Tests in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when Australia completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.
"It's disheartening," said the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it like that," he continued.
"The challenge has been difficult. Australia is a formidable side. It was inevitably hard touring here against them. They were the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's innings in the third Test probably answers questions about his short-term future in the side, Pope appears under threat for his position in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in England's second innings on day four, adding to his poor record versus Australia.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and averages 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
But, Crawley said any notion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year to be frank."
"He has produced several excellent innings. It is talk from the outside. There is no chat like that regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
