The English opener Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments from captain Ben Stokes regarding the team environment as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered those words in several conversations in the wake of his team's defeat 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, Stokes noted he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" within the squad.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I required," said Stokes.
However, after the opener made 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "fragile individuals" observation after England suffered a loss in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards took a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to this match, he said his players had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay alive in the series.
Yet, Crawley stated the messaging from Stokes and coach McCullum had stayed in line with their prior three years in charge.
"It's been very positive, the same as always," noted Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of something special entering this Test."
Australia Close of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal on day four came during a decisive triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a daunting total of 435 runs.
This means, Australia need just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 lead with three matches played.
A loss would prolong England's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes series defeat.
The current battle will be completed in just 11 days of cricket – after England losing the initial matches in rapid time respectively.
The last time 1921, when Australia completed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"It's disheartening," said Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"The challenge has been difficult. They're a formidable team. It was always going to be tough coming here to face them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While the opener's innings in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his immediate future in the side, Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
Pope was out for 17 in England's second innings on Saturday, extending his modest returns versus Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a half-century and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
But, Crawley said any notion his teammate is being scrutinised originates with "you guys" – meaning the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"We all know of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has produced some really good knocks. It is noise externally. There's no discussion of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," Crawley concluded.
