England opener Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments made by skipper Ben Stokes regarding the team environment not being "weak men".
Stokes delivered this message in multiple interviews following England's loss in the second Ashes versus the Australians previously.
In the lead-up to 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 have completed all the talking over the past two days that I required," remarked Stokes.
However, following Crawley scored 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "fragile individuals" comment after his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently went on a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he said his team had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay alive in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the guidance from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their previous three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," said the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with great liberty. It felt like we were capable of an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
Australia Close of Rapid Series Victory
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a crucial three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left England six down for 207 chasing a daunting target of 435 runs.
Consequently, Australia need four wickets on Sunday's final day to secure an unassailable three-nil lead after three Tests.
Defeat will extend England's drought in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes defeat.
This series is set to be decided in only eleven days of play – with England losing the first two Tests in rapid time each.
Not since 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," said Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it like that," he continued.
"The challenge has been difficult. Australia is a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard coming here to face them. They were the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's innings in Adelaide likely secures questions about his short-term place in the England team, Pope appears under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 in the team's second knock on day four, adding to his poor record against the old enemy.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and boasts an average of just 17.62.
A solitary other England player in over a century – Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.
However, Crawley insisted any suggestion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said he. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is noise from the outside. There's no chat of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," he concluded.
