England opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of statements from skipper Ben Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered this message in multiple interviews in the wake of England's defeat in the second Ashes against Australia earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, the captain stated he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I've done the necessary discussions in recent days that I required," said Stokes.
But, after Crawley made 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take everything that is said in the press with some skepticism," he added.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
The captain issued his "weak men" comment after England suffered a loss in Brisbane to go two matches behind.
The team afterwards went on a break to a Queensland resort between the second and third matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, he revealed his players had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley stated the messaging from the captain and head coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," said Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat entering this game."
Australia On the Verge of Rapid Ashes Triumph
Crawley's dismissal on day four was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a notional total of 435.
Consequently, Australia require just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an insurmountable three-nil lead after three matches played.
A loss will extend England's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes series defeat.
This series will be completed in only 11 days of play – with England fell the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," admitted the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There remains plenty to play for and we will definitely view it like that," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been difficult. Australia is a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard coming here to face them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's innings in Adelaide likely secures questions about his short-term place in the England team, Pope looks under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in the team's second knock on Saturday, adding to his modest returns versus Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a half-century and boasts an average of just 17.62.
Only one other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
However, Crawley insisted any notion his teammate is under the microscope 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 Crawley. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is talk from the outside. There's no discussion like that on Ollie in the camp," Crawley finished.
