The English opener Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments made by captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered those words in several conversations in the wake of England's defeat in the second Ashes against Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had let his message to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked 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 didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
Stokes made the "fragile individuals" observation after his side were beaten in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.
The team afterwards went on a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third Tests.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he said his players had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their previous three years in charge.
"It's been very positive, the same as always," noted Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do something special going into this game."
Australia Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's wicket late on Saturday came during a decisive triple-strike by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435.
Consequently, the home team require four wickets on the final day to move to an unassailable three-nil advantage after three Tests.
A loss will extend England's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes loss.
This series is set to be decided in only 11 days of play – after England losing the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed a series win in England in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," said Crawley. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll definitely view it like that," he continued.
"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard coming here to face them. They were the favourites coming in to it they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Position In Question
While the opener's innings in the third Test likely secures doubts about his immediate future in the side, Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 runs in England's second innings on Saturday, adding to his poor record against Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has never made a fifty and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a lower average.
However, the opener said any notion Pope is being scrutinised originates with "you guys" – referring to the press – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added Crawley. "He has had a productive year to be frank."
"He has produced several excellent innings. It is talk from the outside. There's no chat like that regarding Pope amongst the players," he finished.
