England opener Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements from captain Ben Stokes regarding the team environment as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered this message in multiple interviews in the wake of England's loss in the second Ashes series against Australia earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had let his message to "drift around" among the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
However, after Crawley scored 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. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the media with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
Stokes issued his "fragile individuals" comment after his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.
The team subsequently took a break to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he revealed his team had held "honest" talks 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 guidance from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their prior tenure in charge.
"It's been very positive, unchanged," noted Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat going into this game."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's wicket on day four was part of a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant England six down for 207 chasing a daunting target of 435.
This means, Australia need four wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an insurmountable three-nil advantage with three Tests.
Defeat would prolong England's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes series defeat.
The current battle will be completed in only 11 days of cricket – with England fell the initial matches in two and four days each.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed 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 occasions in the modern era.
"It's disheartening," said Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're facing elimination at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. Australia is a formidable side. It was always going to be tough touring here to face them. They were the front-runners and they've proven why."
Pope's Place In Question
While Crawley's performance in the third Test probably answers doubts about his short-term future in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 runs in the team's second innings on Saturday, extending his poor record versus the old enemy.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and boasts an average of just 17.62.
A solitary other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
However, Crawley insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has produced some really good knocks. It is noise externally. There's no chat like that on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley finished.
