England opener Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of statements made by skipper Ben Stokes about the team environment not being "weak men".
Stokes delivered this message in several interviews following his team'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, Stokes noted he had let his message to "drift around" among the squad.
"I have completed all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," said Stokes.
But, following the opener made a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain made the "weak men" observation subsequent to England suffered a loss in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The team afterwards took a holiday to Noosa between the second and third matches.
Prior to this match, he revealed his team had held "raw" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain alive in the Ashes battle.
Yet, Crawley asserted the messaging from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their previous three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said the opener. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. It felt like we were capable of an extraordinary feat entering this game."
The Hosts Close of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's wicket on day four came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional total of 435 runs.
This means, Australia require four wickets on the final day to move to an insurmountable three-nil advantage after three matches played.
A loss will extend the English team's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes series defeat.
This series is set to be decided in only eleven days of play – with England losing the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined more swiftly. The hosts have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"It's disheartening," said the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably tough touring here to face them. They were the favourites coming in to it they've proven why."
Pope's Place In Question
While the opener's innings in the third Test probably answers doubts about his short-term place in the side, Ollie Pope looks under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 runs in the team's second innings on Saturday, extending his poor record versus Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and boasts an average of just 17.62.
Only one other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and recorded a lower average.
But, Crawley insisted any suggestion Pope is under the microscope comes from "the media" – 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 to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is noise externally. There is no discussion of that nature regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
