The English opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements made by skipper Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder delivered this message in several conversations following his team's defeat in the second Ashes against the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" among the squad.
"I have completed all the talking over the past two days that I required," remarked Stokes.
But, after the opener scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the press with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain issued his "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to England were beaten in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards took a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and third matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes said his players had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach McCullum had stayed in line with their previous tenure in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday came during a decisive triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left England 207-6 in pursuit of a notional target of 435.
Consequently, the home team require just four more wickets on the last day to move to an insurmountable three-nil lead with three Tests.
A loss would prolong the English team's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes series loss.
The current battle will be completed in only eleven days of cricket – with England losing the initial matches in rapid time each.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined so quickly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we will certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. They're a very, very good side. It was always going to be tough touring here against them. They entered as the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position In Question
Although Crawley's performance in the third Test likely secures questions about his short-term future in the side, Pope appears under threat for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in the team's second innings on day four, extending his modest returns against Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has played as many times in the top six in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
But, Crawley insisted any notion his teammate is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – meaning the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"We all know of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is talk from the outside. There's no chat like that regarding Pope in the camp," he concluded.
