England opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of statements from skipper Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered this message in several conversations in the wake of his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series against Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, Stokes stated he had let his message to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," said Stokes.
But, following the opener scored a knock of 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 anything stated in the press with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
The captain made the "weak men" comment after his side were beaten in Brisbane to go two matches behind.
The team afterwards went on a holiday to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before the Adelaide contest, he said his team had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain in contention in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior three years in charge.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do something special entering this Test."
The Hosts Close of Rapid Series Victory
The opener's dismissal on day four came during a crucial triple-strike by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Brook and Stokes himself – meant England six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team need just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an unassailable three-nil advantage with three Tests.
A loss will extend England's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes loss.
The current battle will be completed in only eleven days of cricket – after England losing the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined more swiftly. The hosts have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it like that," he continued.
"It's been tough. They're a very, very good side. It was inevitably tough touring here against them. They were the favourites and they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
Although the opener's innings in the third Test probably answers questions about his immediate future in the England team, Pope looks under threat for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
Pope was out for 17 runs in the team's second knock on Saturday, adding to his poor record against Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
However, Crawley insisted any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "the media" – meaning the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"We all know how good of a player he is," added he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year if I'm honest."
"He has produced several excellent innings. This is noise from the outside. There is no discussion of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
