England opener Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments made by skipper Ben Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
Stokes made those words in several conversations following England's loss in the second Ashes against the Australians earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had let his sentiment to "drift around" within the squad.
"I have completed all the talking over the past two days that I needed to have done," said Stokes.
However, after Crawley made 85 on the fourth 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 Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "weak men" observation subsequent to England were beaten in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.
The England squad subsequently took a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and third matches.
Prior to this match, Stokes revealed his players had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay in contention in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from the captain and head coach McCullum had remained consistent with their previous three years in charge.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," said the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this game."
Australia Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's wicket late on Saturday was part of a crucial three-wicket burst by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left England six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional target of 435 runs.
This means, Australia need four wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an unassailable 3-0 advantage after three Tests.
A loss would prolong the English team's drought in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes series defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in just eleven days of play – after England losing the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"It's disheartening," said the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There remains 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 touring here to face them. They entered as the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position In Question
While the opener's performance in Adelaide probably answers questions about his immediate future in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in the team's second knock on day four, adding to his modest returns against Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has never made a fifty and averages 17.62.
A solitary other England player in over a century – Amiss – has played as many times in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
However, the opener said any notion Pope is under the microscope originates with "you guys" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said he. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is noise from the outside. There's no chat like that regarding Pope in the camp," Crawley finished.
