The English opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments from captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered this message in several conversations following his team's loss in the second Ashes series against Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England now face a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" among the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions in recent days that I required," remarked Stokes.
But, after Crawley scored 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
Stokes made the "weak men" comment subsequent to England suffered a loss in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards went on a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before this match, Stokes said his team had held "raw" conversations and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to remain alive in the series.
Yet, Crawley stated the guidance from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their prior tenure in charge.
"It's been very positive, the same as always," said Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat going into this Test."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
The opener's dismissal on day four was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a notional total of 435.
Consequently, Australia require just four more wickets on Sunday's final day to secure an unassailable 3-0 lead with three matches played.
A loss will extend England's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes defeat.
The current battle will be completed in only eleven days of cricket – after England fell the first two Tests in two and four days each.
Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"It's disheartening," said Crawley. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," he continued.
"The challenge has been tough. They're a very, very good side. It was always going to be tough coming here against them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
While Crawley's performance in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his immediate future in the side, Ollie Pope appears under threat for his position in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 in the team's second knock on Saturday, adding to his poor record versus the old enemy.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.
Only one other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
But, the opener insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has produced several excellent innings. It is noise externally. There's no discussion like that on Ollie in the camp," Crawley concluded.
