The English opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments made by captain Ben Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder delivered those words in several conversations in the wake of England's defeat in the second Ashes versus Australia 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 "circulate freely" within the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions in recent days that I required," said Stokes.
However, following the opener scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "weak men" comment subsequent to his side suffered a loss in the second Test to go two matches behind.
The team subsequently took a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third matches.
Before this match, Stokes said his team had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay in contention in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their previous three years in charge.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. It felt like we could do something special entering this game."
Australia Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's wicket on day four came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a notional total of 435.
Consequently, the home team need just four more wickets on the final day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 advantage with three Tests.
Defeat will extend England's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth successive away Ashes series defeat.
This series is set to be decided in just eleven days of cricket – with England losing the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided so quickly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," said Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it like that," he continued.
"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a formidable team. It was inevitably tough coming here against them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position In Question
While the opener's innings in Adelaide likely secures questions about his short-term place in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under threat for his position in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
Pope was out for 17 in the team's second knock on Saturday, adding to his poor record against Australia.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and averages 17.62.
Only one other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
But, Crawley said any notion his teammate is under the microscope originates with "the media" – referring to 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 several excellent innings. This is talk from the outside. There is no discussion like that regarding Pope amongst the players," he finished.
