England opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with statements from captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder delivered those words in multiple conversations in the wake of his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes against the Australians previously.
Ahead of the third Test, where England now face defeat with a match to spare, the captain noted he had let his message to "drift around" among the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
However, after the opener made a knock of 85 on the fourth 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 everything that is said in the press with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
Stokes issued his "fragile individuals" comment after his side suffered a loss in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently took a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to this match, Stokes revealed his players had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to remain alive in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, Crawley stated the messaging from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their prior tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," said the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. It felt like we could do something special entering this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Ashes Triumph
Crawley's dismissal on day four was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a daunting total of 435 runs.
Consequently, Australia need four wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an insurmountable three-nil advantage with three Tests.
Defeat will extend the English team's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes series defeat.
This series is set to be decided in only 11 days of play – with England losing the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"It's disheartening," said the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it like that," he continued.
"The challenge has been difficult. Australia is a formidable team. It was always going to be tough coming here to face them. They were the favourites coming in to it they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's innings in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his short-term future in the England team, Pope appears under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 runs in the team's second knock on Saturday, extending his poor record versus Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and recorded a lower average.
But, Crawley said any suggestion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – meaning the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year to be frank."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is noise from the outside. There's no chat of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," he concluded.
