England opener Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments from captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered this message in several conversations in the wake of England's loss in the second Ashes series versus the Australians previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," said the England leader.
However, after Crawley scored 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 anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain issued his "fragile individuals" comment after England were beaten in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently went on a holiday to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Prior to this match, Stokes revealed his team had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay alive in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the messaging from Stokes and coach McCullum had stayed in line with their previous three years in charge.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat entering this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
The opener's wicket late on Saturday was part of a crucial three-wicket burst by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – left England six down for 207 chasing a notional target of 435 runs.
This means, Australia need four wickets on the final day to move to an unassailable three-nil advantage with three matches played.
A loss would prolong England's winless run in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes series loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in only 11 days of play – with England losing the initial matches in rapid time each.
The last time 1921, when Australia completed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"It's disappointing," said the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we will certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been difficult. They're a very, very good side. It was always going to be tough coming here to face them. They entered as the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While the opener's performance in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his short-term place in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
Pope was out for 17 runs in the team's second innings on Saturday, extending his poor record against the old enemy.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a fifty and averages just 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has featured as many times in the top six in Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.
But, the opener insisted any suggestion Pope is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – referring to the press – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year to be frank."
"He has played several excellent innings. It is noise externally. There's no chat like that on Ollie in the camp," he finished.
