The English opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements made by skipper Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder made those words in multiple interviews following England's loss in the second Ashes series versus Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, the captain stated he had allowed his message to "drift around" within the squad.
"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
But, after the opener scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "fragile individuals" comment after England suffered a loss in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.
The team subsequently went on a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and third Tests.
Prior to this match, he said his players had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, Crawley stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach McCullum had stayed in line with their previous tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," said the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we could do something special going into this game."
Australia On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
The opener's wicket on day four came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant England six down for 207 chasing a notional total of 435 runs.
This means, the home team need four wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 lead after three matches played.
Defeat will extend England's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes defeat.
The current battle will be completed in only eleven days of cricket – with England losing the first two Tests in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined more swiftly. The hosts have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," said Crawley. "We came here to win the Ashes and we're facing elimination now."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we will definitely view it like that," he continued.
"The challenge has been difficult. They're a formidable team. It was inevitably tough coming here against them. They were the front-runners and they've proven why."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While the opener's performance in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his immediate future in the England team, Pope appears under threat for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 runs in the team's second knock on Saturday, adding to his modest returns against Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, 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 six in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
However, Crawley insisted any notion his teammate is under the microscope originates with "the media" – referring to the press – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added he. "He has had a productive year to be frank."
"He has produced several excellent innings. This is talk externally. There is no chat like that on Ollie amongst the players," he concluded.
