The English opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments from skipper Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
Stokes delivered those words in several interviews following his team's defeat in the second Ashes series against the Australians earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at defeat with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," said Stokes.
However, following the opener scored 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he commented: "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.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "fragile individuals" observation after England suffered a loss in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards took a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Prior to this match, Stokes said his players had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay alive in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the messaging from the captain and coach McCullum had remained in line with their previous three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," said Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat entering this game."
The Hosts Close of Historic Series Victory
The opener's wicket on day four was part of a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435.
This means, the home team need just four more wickets on the final day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 lead with three Tests.
A loss would prolong England's drought in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in only eleven days of play – with England losing the first two Tests in two and four days each.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we will definitely view it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a formidable team. It was inevitably tough touring here against them. They were the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's performance in the third Test likely secures questions about his short-term future in the side, Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in England's second innings on day four, adding to his poor record against Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and averages 17.62.
A solitary other England player in over a century – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
However, Crawley said any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "the media" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said he. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is noise from the outside. There's no discussion like that regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley finished.
