England opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments from captain Ben Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered this message in several interviews following his team's loss in the second Ashes series versus the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face defeat with a match to spare, the captain stated he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" among the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," said Stokes.
But, after Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take anything stated in the press with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain issued his "weak men" comment after England were beaten in the second Test to go two matches behind.
The England squad subsequently took a break to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes said his team had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay alive in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the guidance from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their prior tenure in charge.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," noted Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat going into this game."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
The opener's wicket late on Saturday came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435.
This means, the home team need just four more wickets on the last day to move to an insurmountable three-nil lead with three Tests.
Defeat would prolong England's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes defeat.
The current battle will be completed in just eleven days of cricket – with England losing the initial matches in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when Australia completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined so quickly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.
"It's disheartening," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel at this point."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a very, very good side. It was always going to be hard coming here against them. They entered as the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's performance in Adelaide probably answers questions about his immediate place in the side, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
Pope fell for 17 in the team's second knock on Saturday, extending his modest returns versus the old enemy.
In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.
Only one other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
But, Crawley said any notion Pope 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 he. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. It is talk externally. There is no discussion like that regarding Pope in the camp," Crawley concluded.
