The English opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements from captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "weak men".
The all-rounder made those words in several interviews following his team's loss in the second Ashes series against the Australians previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had allowed his message to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I've done the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
But, following the opener made 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
Stokes made the "fragile individuals" comment after England were beaten in the second Test to go two matches behind.
The team subsequently took a holiday to Noosa between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before this match, he said his team had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, Crawley asserted the messaging from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their prior tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," noted the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat entering this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's wicket on day four came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a daunting total of 435 runs.
This means, the home team require just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an insurmountable three-nil advantage with three Tests.
A loss would prolong England's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes series defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in just 11 days of cricket – with England fell the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been determined so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," said the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel now."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll definitely view it like that," he continued.
"It's been difficult. They're a formidable team. It was always going to be tough touring here to face them. They entered as the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's innings in the third Test likely secures questions about his immediate future in the England team, Pope looks under threat for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 runs in the team's second innings on day four, adding to his poor record against the old enemy.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has never made a fifty and averages 17.62.
A solitary other England player in over a century – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and recorded a lower average.
But, the opener said any notion Pope is under the microscope originates with "the media" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is noise from the outside. There's no chat of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," Crawley concluded.
