England opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments from captain Ben Stokes about the team environment as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered this message in multiple conversations in the wake of England's loss in the second Ashes series versus the Australians previously.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face defeat with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had let his message to "drift around" within the playing group.
"I have completed all the talking over the past two days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
However, after the opener scored 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take anything stated in the media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
Stokes made the "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to his side suffered a loss in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The team afterwards took a holiday to Noosa between the second and third Tests.
Prior to this match, he said his players had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, Crawley stated the guidance from the captain and head coach McCullum had remained in line with their previous tenure in leadership.
"It's been very positive, unchanged," noted the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat going into this game."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left England six down for 207 chasing a notional total of 435 runs.
This means, the home team require just four more wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an insurmountable three-nil lead after three matches played.
Defeat would prolong England's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth successive overseas Ashes series defeat.
The current battle will be completed in just 11 days of play – after England losing the first two Tests in two and four days each.
Not since 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"It's disappointing," said the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're facing elimination at this point."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been difficult. They're a formidable team. It was inevitably hard coming here against them. They were the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place In Question
While Crawley's innings in the third Test probably answers questions about his immediate future in the side, Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in England's second innings on day four, extending his poor record versus Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings 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 journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is noise from the outside. There is no discussion of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
