England opener Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments from captain Ben Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".
Stokes made this message in several conversations following his team's loss in the second Ashes series against Australia earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had let his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," said Stokes.
However, following the opener scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate 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 press with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
Stokes made the "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to England were beaten in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards took a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and third matches.
Before this match, he said his players had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain alive in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their previous three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," noted the opener. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal on day four was part of a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a notional total of 435 runs.
Consequently, Australia need four wickets on the final day to secure an unassailable three-nil advantage after three matches played.
Defeat will extend the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth successive overseas Ashes series defeat.
The current battle will be completed in just 11 days of cricket – with England fell the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when Australia sealed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been determined more swiftly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," said the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been difficult. They're a very, very good team. It was always going to be hard 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 the opener's innings in Adelaide likely secures questions about his short-term future in the side, Pope appears under threat for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in England's second innings on Saturday, adding to his poor record against the old enemy.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.
Only one other England player in over a century – Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
However, the opener insisted any notion his teammate is under the microscope originates with "you guys" – meaning the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added he. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has played several excellent innings. It is noise externally. There's no discussion of that nature on Ollie in the camp," he finished.
