The English opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments from skipper Ben Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered this message in several interviews in the wake of England's defeat in the second Ashes series against Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where England now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted 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," remarked Stokes.
However, after the opener scored 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 anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "weak men" comment subsequent to England were beaten in the second Test to go two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards went on a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and third matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his team had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay alive in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the messaging from the captain and head coach McCullum had stayed in line with their prior three years in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we were capable of something special going into this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's dismissal on day four was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left England six down for 207 chasing a notional total of 435.
Consequently, the home team need just four more wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an unassailable three-nil advantage with three Tests.
A loss would prolong the English team's winless run in this country to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth successive away Ashes series loss.
This series is set to be decided in just 11 days of play – after England losing the initial matches in two and four days each.
Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," said the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was always going to be tough coming here against them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's innings in the third Test probably answers doubts about his short-term future in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under threat for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in England's second innings on Saturday, adding to his modest returns against the old enemy.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and averages just 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
But, Crawley insisted any notion Pope is under the microscope originates with "you guys" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said he. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. It is noise from the outside. There's no chat like that on Ollie amongst the players," he concluded.
