The English opener Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments made by skipper Ben Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".
The all-rounder made this message in multiple conversations in the wake of England's loss in the second match of the Ashes against Australia previously.
Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, the captain noted he had let his message to "circulate freely" within the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
However, after Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. We take anything stated in the media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "weak men" observation after England suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards went on a break to Noosa between the second and third Tests.
Before the Adelaide contest, he revealed his players had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain alive in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their prior tenure in charge.
"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said the opener. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat going into this Test."
Australia Close of Rapid Series Victory
The opener's wicket late on Saturday was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435 runs.
This means, the home team need just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an insurmountable three-nil lead with three Tests.
A loss will extend England's winless run in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes series loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in just eleven days of cricket – with England fell the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"It's disheartening," said the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."
"There remains plenty to play for and we will definitely view it like that," he continued.
"The challenge has been tough. They're a formidable side. It was inevitably tough coming here against them. They entered as the front-runners and they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's performance in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his short-term future in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 runs in the team's second knock on Saturday, extending his poor record versus the old enemy.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a lower average.
However, the opener said any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."
"We all know of his considerable talent," said he. "He has had a productive year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. It is talk externally. There's no chat like that on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley finished.
