The English opener Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments made by captain Ben Stokes about the team environment as no place for "weak men".
Stokes made this message in several conversations following his team's loss in the second Ashes series against the Australians previously.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat with a match to spare, the captain noted he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" within the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I required," remarked the England leader.
But, following Crawley scored 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he stated: "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," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "weak men" comment after England were beaten in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.
The team afterwards took a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, he revealed his players had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their prior tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435.
Consequently, the home team need just four more wickets on the last day to move to an unassailable 3-0 lead with three Tests.
Defeat will extend the English team's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth straight away Ashes defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in only eleven days of play – after England fell the initial matches in rapid time each.
The last time 1921, when Australia completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"It's disheartening," said the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard coming here against them. They entered as the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's innings in Adelaide probably answers questions about his short-term place in the side, Pope appears under threat for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 runs in England's second knock on Saturday, adding to his poor record against Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and averages 17.62.
Only one other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
But, Crawley said any suggestion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is talk from the outside. There is no chat of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley finished.
