England opener Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with statements made by skipper Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes made those words in multiple interviews in the wake of England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series versus Australia previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, the captain noted he had let his message to "drift around" within the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," said Stokes.
But, after the opener made a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, 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 press with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "fragile individuals" comment after England suffered a loss in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The team subsequently went on a break to Noosa between the second and third Tests.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he said his team had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their previous three years in leadership.
"It's been very positive, unchanged," noted the opener. "It's just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do something special entering this game."
The Hosts Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's wicket on day four came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435 runs.
This means, the home team need four wickets on the final day to secure an unassailable 3-0 advantage after three matches played.
A loss would prolong England's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in only 11 days of play – after England losing the initial matches in rapid time respectively.
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. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," admitted Crawley. "We came here to regain the Ashes and we're facing elimination now."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it like that," he continued.
"The challenge has been tough. They're a formidable team. It was inevitably tough coming here against them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."
Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's performance in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his immediate place in the side, Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in the team's second knock on day four, adding to his poor record versus the old enemy.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and boasts an average of just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
But, the opener insisted any notion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "you guys" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. It is talk externally. There's no discussion of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
