The English opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of statements from captain Ben Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder made those words in several interviews following his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes versus the Australians previously.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, the captain stated he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" within the playing group.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
But, after the opener scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "weak men" observation subsequent to England were beaten in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The team afterwards took a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and third matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes said his players had held "raw" conversations and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to remain alive in the series.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from the captain and head coach McCullum had stayed in line with their prior tenure in charge.
"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. It felt like we could do something special entering this game."
The Hosts Close of Historic Series Victory
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday came during a decisive triple-strike by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435 runs.
This means, Australia need just four more wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an unassailable 3-0 advantage after three matches played.
Defeat would prolong the English team's winless run in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series loss.
This series will be completed in only 11 days of play – after England fell the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also won in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"It's disappointing," said the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will definitely view it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. They're a formidable side. It was inevitably tough coming here to face them. They were the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."
Pope's Place In Question
While Crawley's performance in the third Test probably answers doubts about his short-term future in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under threat for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in England's second knock on day four, extending his modest returns versus the old enemy.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
However, the opener insisted any suggestion Pope is being scrutinised originates with "you guys" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is noise from the outside. There is no chat like that regarding Pope amongst the players," he finished.
