The English opener Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of statements made by skipper Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes made this message in multiple interviews following England's loss in the second match of the Ashes series versus Australia earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had let his message to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I required," said Stokes.
But, following 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 everything that is said in the media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain made the "fragile individuals" observation subsequent to England were beaten in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The England squad subsequently took a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and third Tests.
Before this match, he said his team had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay in contention in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from Stokes and head coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their previous tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," noted Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do something special entering this game."
The Hosts Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a notional total of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team require just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 lead after three matches played.
A loss will extend the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth straight away Ashes series defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in only 11 days of play – after England losing the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"It's disheartening," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to win 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.
"It's been difficult. They're a very, very good side. It was inevitably tough coming here to face them. They entered as the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's performance in the third Test probably answers questions about his immediate future in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
Pope fell for 17 in the team's second knock on day four, extending his modest returns versus Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a half-century and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
However, Crawley insisted any notion his teammate is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"We all know of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has produced several excellent innings. This is talk from the outside. There's no discussion like that on Ollie in the camp," Crawley concluded.
