England opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with statements from skipper Ben Stokes regarding the team environment not being "weak men".
Stokes delivered this message in several conversations following England's loss in the second Ashes series against the Australians previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had let his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the playing group.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
But, following Crawley made 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. We take anything stated in the media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "fragile individuals" comment after England were beaten in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently took a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and third matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, he revealed his team had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain in contention in the series.
Yet, Crawley asserted the guidance from Stokes and coach McCullum had remained in line with their previous tenure in leadership.
"It's been very positive, unchanged," noted Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
Australia Close of Historic Series Victory
The opener's wicket late on Saturday was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australian spinner Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435 runs.
This means, Australia require four wickets on Sunday's final day to secure an insurmountable three-nil advantage after three Tests.
A loss would prolong England's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes loss.
This series will be completed in just 11 days of play – with England fell the first two Tests in rapid time each.
The last time 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided so quickly. The hosts have also won in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disheartening," said Crawley. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. They're a formidable team. It was always going to be tough coming here to face them. They were the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's innings in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his immediate place in the England team, Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 runs in the team's second innings on day four, adding to his poor record versus Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has never made a half-century and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other England player in over a century – Amiss – has played as many times in the top six in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
But, the opener insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – referring to the press – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year if I'm honest."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is noise externally. There is no discussion of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
