The English opener Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of statements made by captain Ben Stokes about the team environment as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes made this message in several interviews in the wake of his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series against the Australians previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had let his message to "circulate freely" within the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
However, following the opener made a knock of 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 anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain made the "fragile individuals" comment after England suffered a loss in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The team afterwards went on a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before this match, he revealed his team had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from Stokes and head coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior tenure in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. It felt like we could do something special entering this game."
Australia Close of Rapid Ashes Triumph
Crawley's wicket on day four was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435 runs.
This means, Australia need four wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an unassailable 3-0 lead after three matches played.
Defeat will extend the English team's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth successive overseas Ashes series loss.
This series is set to be decided in just 11 days of play – with England fell the initial matches in rapid time respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"It's disappointing," said Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're facing elimination at this point."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably tough coming here against them. They entered as the front-runners and they've proven why."
Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's innings in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his immediate place in the side, Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in England's second knock on Saturday, extending his poor record versus the old enemy.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a half-century and averages 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and recorded a lower average.
However, Crawley said any notion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has produced several excellent innings. This is noise externally. There is no chat of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," he finished.
