England opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments made by captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered this message in several conversations following England's defeat in the second Ashes against the Australians previously.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had let his message to "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I required," said the England leader.
But, after Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, 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
The captain made the "weak men" observation subsequent to England were beaten in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently went on a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before this match, he revealed his players had held "raw" conversations and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, Crawley asserted the guidance from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their prior tenure in charge.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," said Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. It felt like we could do something special entering this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday came during a crucial triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left England 207-6 in pursuit of a notional total of 435 runs.
This means, the home team require four wickets on the final day to secure an unassailable 3-0 lead with three Tests.
Defeat will extend the English team's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes loss.
The current battle will be completed in just eleven days of play – after England losing the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.
"It's disheartening," admitted Crawley. "We came here to regain the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel at this point."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. They're a formidable team. It was inevitably tough touring here against them. They were the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position In Question
Although the opener's performance in the third Test probably answers questions about his immediate place in the England team, Ollie Pope looks under immense pressure for his position 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 against Australia.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
Only one other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in the Ashes and recorded a poorer average.
But, the opener insisted any suggestion his teammate is being scrutinised originates with "you guys" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"We all know how good of a player he is," added he. "He has had a productive year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. It is noise from the outside. There is no discussion like that regarding Pope in the camp," Crawley concluded.
