England opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments made by captain Ben Stokes regarding the team environment as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder made this message in multiple conversations following England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series versus Australia previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had let his message to "circulate freely" among the squad.
"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
But, following Crawley made 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"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" observation subsequent to his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards went on a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to this match, Stokes said his players had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to remain alive in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, Crawley stated the messaging from the captain and head coach McCullum had remained consistent with their previous three years in charge.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do something special going into this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional target of 435.
This means, the home team need just four more wickets on Sunday's final day to secure an insurmountable three-nil advantage with three matches played.
A loss will extend the English team's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series loss.
This series will be completed in just eleven days of cricket – after England losing the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"It's disheartening," admitted the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we will definitely view it like that," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was always going to be tough coming here against them. They were the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's innings in the third Test probably answers questions about his immediate future in the England team, Ollie Pope looks under threat for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in the team's second knock on day four, adding to his poor record versus the old enemy.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other England player in over a century – Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in the Ashes and recorded a poorer average.
But, Crawley insisted any suggestion Pope is under the microscope comes from "the media" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is noise from the outside. There's no chat of that nature regarding Pope amongst the players," he concluded.
