The English opener Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments from captain Ben Stokes regarding the team environment not being "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder delivered this message in several interviews in the wake of England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series versus Australia earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" among the squad.
"I have completed all the talking in recent days that I required," said the England leader.
But, following the opener scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "weak men" comment subsequent to England suffered a loss in the second Test to go two matches behind.
The England squad subsequently went on a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third matches.
Before this match, he said his players had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from Stokes and coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior tenure in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do something special going into this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's wicket on day four came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435.
This means, the home team need just four more wickets on the last day to move to an insurmountable three-nil advantage with three matches played.
Defeat would prolong England's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes series defeat.
This series is set to be decided in only eleven days of cricket – after England fell the initial matches in rapid time respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided so quickly. The hosts have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," said the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're facing elimination now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it like that," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been difficult. They're a very, very good side. It was always going to be hard coming here against them. They were the favourites coming in to it they've proven why."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While the opener's performance in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his immediate future in the side, Pope looks under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 in the team's second innings on day four, extending his poor record versus the old enemy.
In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in the Ashes and recorded a lower average.
However, the opener insisted any notion his teammate is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – meaning the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is noise externally. There is no discussion of that nature regarding Pope amongst the players," he concluded.
