The English opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements from skipper Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "weak men".
Stokes made those words in multiple interviews in the wake of his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes against Australia previously.
Ahead of the third Test, where England now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" within the squad.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
But, following Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
The captain issued his "fragile individuals" comment after England suffered a loss in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards went on a break to a Queensland resort between the second and third matches.
Prior to this match, he said his team had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay in contention in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from the captain and coach McCullum had stayed in line with their prior tenure in leadership.
"It's been very positive, unchanged," said Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with great liberty. It felt like we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's dismissal on day four came during a decisive triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435 runs.
This means, the home team require four wickets on the last day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 advantage with three Tests.
A loss will extend the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes series loss.
This series is set to be decided in just 11 days of cricket – after England losing the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"It's disappointing," said the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're facing elimination at this point."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we will definitely view it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. Australia is 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 they've proven why."
Pope's Position In Question
While the opener's innings in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his immediate future in the England team, Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in England's second innings on day four, adding to his modest returns against Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.
Only one other England player in over a century – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
But, Crawley said any notion his teammate is under the microscope originates with "the media" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said he. "He has had a productive year to be frank."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is talk externally. There is no discussion like that on Ollie amongst the players," he concluded.
