England opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments made by skipper Ben Stokes about the team environment not being "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered those words in several interviews following England's loss in the second match of the Ashes series versus the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where England are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had let his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I've done the necessary discussions in recent days that I required," remarked Stokes.
But, following the opener made a knock of 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take anything stated in the press with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
The captain issued his "weak men" comment subsequent to his side were beaten in the second Test to go two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards took a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, he revealed his team had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain alive in the series.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from Stokes and head coach McCullum had stayed in line with their prior tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," noted the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. It felt like we could do something special entering this Test."
The Hosts Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's dismissal on day four was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435 runs.
Consequently, Australia require four wickets on the last day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 lead with three Tests.
A loss will extend England's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes loss.
This series is set to be decided in just eleven days of play – after England fell the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided so quickly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," said Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we will definitely view it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a formidable side. It was inevitably hard coming here to face them. They were the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's performance in the third Test likely secures doubts about his immediate place in the England team, Ollie Pope looks under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 in the team's second innings on Saturday, extending his modest returns versus the old enemy.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and averages 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.
However, the opener insisted any suggestion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "He has had a productive year to be frank."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is noise externally. There is no discussion of that nature regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley finished.
