The English opener Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments from captain Ben Stokes about the team environment not being "weak men".
The all-rounder made those words in multiple interviews following his team's loss in the second Ashes series against Australia previously.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England now face defeat with a match to spare, the captain noted he had let his sentiment to "drift around" among the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions in recent days that I required," remarked the England leader.
However, after Crawley made a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "weak men" comment after England were beaten in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.
The team afterwards went on a break to Noosa between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to this match, he said his team had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the guidance from the captain and coach McCullum had remained in line with their previous tenure in charge.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat going into this Test."
The Hosts Close of Historic Series Victory
The opener's wicket late on Saturday was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Stokes himself – left England six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435.
Consequently, the home team require four wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an unassailable three-nil lead with three matches played.
A loss would prolong England's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes series loss.
This series is set to be decided in only eleven days of play – after England fell the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," said Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're facing elimination now."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been difficult. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard touring here against them. They entered as the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Position In Question
Although Crawley's innings in Adelaide likely secures questions about his short-term future in the England team, Pope appears under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
Pope fell for 17 in England's second innings on day four, extending his modest returns versus Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a half-century and boasts an average of just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in the Ashes 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."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," added he. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has produced several excellent innings. This is noise externally. There is no chat of that nature regarding Pope amongst the players," he concluded.
