England opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of statements made by captain Ben Stokes about the dressing room not being "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder made this message in several conversations following England's defeat in the second Ashes series against Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes stated he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" among the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
But, after the opener scored 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the media with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "weak men" comment subsequent to his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to go two matches behind.
The team subsequently went on a holiday to Noosa between the second and third matches.
Prior to this match, Stokes revealed his players had held "raw" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain alive in the series.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the guidance from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior tenure in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do something special entering this Test."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – left England six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional target of 435 runs.
This means, the home team need just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an insurmountable three-nil advantage after three Tests.
A loss would prolong the English team's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes defeat.
The current battle will be completed in just 11 days of play – with England losing the initial matches in rapid time each.
The last time 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," said Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been difficult. Australia is a formidable side. It was inevitably hard coming here to face them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."
Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While the opener's performance in the third Test likely secures questions about his short-term future in the England team, Pope looks under threat for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in the team's second knock on day four, adding to his modest returns versus the old enemy.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and averages just 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.
But, the opener insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added he. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has produced some really good knocks. It is noise externally. There's no chat like that regarding Pope amongst the players," he finished.
