England opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of statements from captain Ben Stokes about the team environment as no place for "weak men".
Stokes made those words in several interviews following England's defeat in the second Ashes versus Australia previously.
Ahead of the third Test, where England are staring at defeat with a match to spare, the captain stated he had let his sentiment to "drift around" within the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
However, following the opener made 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the press with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "fragile individuals" comment after England were beaten in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.
The team subsequently went on a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his players had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay alive in the series.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the guidance from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their previous three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said 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 Series Victory
The opener's wicket on day four came during a decisive triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant England six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional target of 435.
Consequently, the home team require four wickets on the final day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 advantage with three matches played.
Defeat will extend the English team's drought in this country to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth successive overseas Ashes series loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in only eleven days of cricket – after England fell the initial matches in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when Australia sealed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"It's disappointing," said Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard coming here to face them. They entered as the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
While the opener's performance in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his immediate place in the side, Pope appears under threat for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in the team's second innings on day four, extending his poor record versus the old enemy.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a half-century and boasts an average of just 17.62.
A solitary other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played as many times in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
However, Crawley said any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "the media" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," added Crawley. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is talk externally. There is no chat of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," he concluded.
