The English opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments made by captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "weak men".
Stokes delivered this message in multiple conversations following England's loss in the second match of the Ashes series against Australia previously.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had let his message to "circulate freely" within the squad.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I required," remarked the England leader.
But, after Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "fragile individuals" observation after England suffered a loss in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards went on a holiday to Noosa between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before this match, Stokes revealed his players had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, Crawley asserted the messaging from the captain and head coach McCullum had remained in line with their prior three years in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat going into this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Ashes Triumph
The opener's wicket late on Saturday was part of a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – meant England six down for 207 chasing a notional total of 435 runs.
Consequently, Australia need just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an unassailable three-nil lead after three matches played.
A loss will extend England's winless run in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series loss.
This series is set to be decided in only eleven days of play – after England losing the initial matches in rapid time respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"It's disheartening," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it like that," he continued.
"The challenge has been difficult. They're a very, very good team. It was always going to be hard coming here against them. They entered as the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's performance in the third Test likely secures doubts about his short-term future in the England team, Pope appears under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
Pope fell for 17 in England's second innings on Saturday, extending his poor record versus Australia.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a half-century and averages 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has featured as many times in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
However, the opener said any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – referring to the press – "not inside the camp."
"We all know how good of a player he is," added he. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has produced several excellent innings. It is noise from the outside. There is no chat of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," he concluded.
