England opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments from captain Ben Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
Stokes made those words in multiple conversations in the wake of his team's loss in the second Ashes series versus the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
But, after the opener 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 everything that is said in the media with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain issued his "weak men" observation after his side suffered a loss in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards went on a holiday to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his players had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain alive in the series.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior three years in leadership.
"It's been very positive, unchanged," said Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this Test."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional total of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team need four wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an unassailable three-nil lead after three matches played.
Defeat will extend the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in just 11 days of cricket – after England fell the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined more swiftly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're facing elimination now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a very, very good team. It was always going to be hard coming here to face them. They were the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position In Question
Although Crawley's innings in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his immediate future in the England team, Ollie Pope looks under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in the team's second innings on Saturday, adding to his modest returns versus Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
Only one other England player in over a century – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.
However, Crawley said any notion his teammate is under the microscope originates with "you guys" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is noise externally. There is no discussion like that on Ollie amongst the players," he finished.
