England opener Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with statements made by captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "weak men".
The all-rounder made those words in multiple interviews in the wake of his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes versus the Australians previously.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had let his message to "circulate freely" among the squad.
"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I required," remarked Stokes.
However, following the opener scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take anything stated in the media with some skepticism," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "fragile individuals" observation subsequent to his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.
The team subsequently took a break to a Queensland resort between the second and third Tests.
Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes said his players had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain alive in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from Stokes and head coach McCullum had remained in line with their prior tenure in charge.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with great liberty. It felt like we were capable of something special entering this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
The opener's dismissal on day four came during a decisive triple-strike by Australia spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435.
This means, the home team need four wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an unassailable 3-0 lead after three matches played.
A loss will extend England's winless run in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes defeat.
This series will be completed in only 11 days of play – after England losing the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"It's disheartening," said Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're facing elimination now."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we will certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably tough coming here against them. They were the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Position In Question
While Crawley's innings in the third Test likely secures doubts about his immediate place in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in the team's second innings on day four, adding to his modest returns versus the old enemy.
In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and averages 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
But, Crawley insisted any notion Pope is under the microscope originates with "the media" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," added he. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has produced several excellent innings. It is noise externally. There is no discussion of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," he finished.
