The English opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of statements made by skipper Ben Stokes regarding the team environment not being "weak men".
Stokes made those words in several interviews following England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes against Australia earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes stated he had let his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
However, following the opener made a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to England were beaten in Brisbane to go two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards took a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before this match, Stokes revealed his players had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior three years in charge.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," noted Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with great liberty. It felt like we could do something special going into this game."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australian spinner Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side 207-6 chasing a daunting total of 435.
This means, Australia need four wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an insurmountable three-nil advantage with three Tests.
A loss will extend England's winless run in this country to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth straight overseas Ashes series defeat.
This series will be completed in only 11 days of cricket – 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 outcome of the urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"It's disappointing," said the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and we're facing elimination at this point."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard coming here to face them. They entered as the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
Although the opener's innings in the third Test probably answers questions about his immediate future in the side, Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 runs in the team's second knock on day four, extending his poor record versus the old enemy.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and averages 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 recorded a poorer average.
However, the opener said any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope originates with "the media" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added he. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is noise externally. There's no chat like that regarding Pope in the camp," Crawley concluded.
