The English opener Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments made by captain Ben Stokes about the dressing room not being "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered this message in several conversations in the wake of his team's defeat in the second Ashes versus Australia earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" among the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions in recent days that I required," said the England leader.
But, following the opener scored 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the media with some skepticism," he added.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
Stokes issued his "fragile individuals" observation subsequent to his side suffered a loss in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The team subsequently went on a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before this match, 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 Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from the captain and head coach McCullum had stayed in line with their prior three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," noted the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday was part of a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left England six down for 207 chasing a notional total of 435.
This means, the home team require just four more wickets on the final day to secure an insurmountable three-nil lead after three Tests.
Defeat would prolong England's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes series loss.
The current battle will be completed in just eleven days of play – after England fell the initial matches in rapid time each.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"It's disheartening," admitted the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," he continued.
"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a very, very good team. It was always going to be hard touring here against them. They were the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's innings in Adelaide likely secures questions about his immediate place in the side, Ollie Pope appears under threat for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in the team's second knock on day four, adding to his poor record versus the old enemy.
In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and averages 17.62.
Only one other England player in over a century – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
However, the opener insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year to be frank."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is noise from the outside. There's no chat of that nature regarding Pope amongst the players," he finished.
