The English opener Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments made by skipper Ben Stokes regarding the team environment as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered this message in several interviews following England's defeat in the second Ashes versus Australia previously.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had let his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," remarked the England leader.
But, after Crawley made a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to his side were beaten in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards went on a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, he revealed his team had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the guidance from the captain and head coach McCullum had remained consistent with their prior three years in charge.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," said Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we could do something special going into this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Ashes Triumph
Crawley's dismissal on day four came during a decisive triple-strike by Australia spinner Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left England 207-6 chasing a daunting total of 435.
This means, Australia need four wickets on the final day to move to an unassailable 3-0 lead after three Tests.
Defeat would prolong England's winless run in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in just 11 days of cricket – after England losing the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.
The last time 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined more swiftly. The hosts have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.
"It's disappointing," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel at this point."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a formidable side. It was always going to be hard touring here against them. They entered as the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place In Question
While Crawley's innings in Adelaide probably answers questions about his immediate place in the England team, Pope looks under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 in England's second knock on Saturday, extending his poor record versus the old enemy.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a fifty and averages 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
However, Crawley said any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. It is noise externally. There's no discussion of that nature on Ollie in the camp," Crawley finished.
