The English opener Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments made by captain Ben Stokes regarding the team environment as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder delivered this message in multiple conversations in the wake of England's loss in the second Ashes against the Australians previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes stated he had let his message to "drift around" within the squad.
"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
However, following the opener scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the media with some skepticism," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "fragile individuals" observation after his side were beaten in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The team afterwards went on a break to a Queensland resort between the second and third matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, he revealed his players had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from the captain and coach McCullum had remained consistent with their previous three years in charge.
"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat entering this game."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's wicket late on Saturday came during a crucial triple-strike by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side 207-6 chasing a notional target of 435.
Consequently, Australia require just four more wickets on the last day to move to an unassailable 3-0 advantage with three Tests.
A loss will extend the English team's winless run in this country to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth straight away Ashes loss.
This series will be completed in just eleven days of cricket – with England losing the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"It's disappointing," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. They're a formidable team. It was inevitably tough coming here to face them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
Although Crawley's innings in the third Test likely secures doubts about his immediate place in the side, Ollie Pope looks under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in England's second knock on day four, extending his poor record against Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a half-century and averages just 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
However, Crawley said any notion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "the media" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "He has had a productive year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. It is talk externally. There's no discussion of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," Crawley finished.
