England opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments made by skipper Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder made this message in multiple interviews following England's loss in the second Ashes series versus the Australians previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, the captain noted he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" within the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two 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 stated: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the press with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "fragile individuals" comment after England were beaten in the second Test to go two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards took a holiday to Noosa in the gap between the second and third matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his players had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain alive in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their previous three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," noted the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday came during a decisive triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a daunting target of 435.
This means, the home team require just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 lead after three Tests.
Defeat will extend England's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in only eleven days of cricket – with England losing the initial matches in rapid time each.
The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"It's disheartening," said the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel now."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. Australia is a very, very good team. It was always going to be tough coming here to face them. They were the favourites and they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's innings in the third Test likely secures questions about his immediate future in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in England's second knock on day four, adding to his poor record versus the old enemy.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a half-century and averages just 17.62.
Only one other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
But, Crawley insisted any suggestion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is talk from the outside. There's no chat of that nature regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley finished.
