The English opener Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments made by skipper Ben Stokes about the team environment not being "weak men".
The all-rounder made this message in several interviews in the wake of his team's defeat in the second Ashes against Australia earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England now face defeat with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had allowed his message to "drift around" within the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
But, following the opener scored 85 on the fourth 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 media with some skepticism," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "weak men" comment subsequent to England suffered a loss in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The team subsequently went on a break to Noosa between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his team had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the guidance from the captain and head coach McCullum had stayed in line with their previous three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," said Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
Australia Close of Rapid Ashes Triumph
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday came during a crucial triple-strike by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a daunting total of 435.
Consequently, the home team require four wickets on the final day to move to an unassailable 3-0 advantage after three Tests.
Defeat will extend the English team's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth straight away Ashes series defeat.
This series will be completed in just eleven days of play – with England losing the initial matches in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.
"It's disheartening," said Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There remains plenty to play for and we will certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. Australia is a formidable team. It was inevitably tough touring here to face them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position In Question
Although Crawley's innings in Adelaide likely secures questions about his immediate place in the side, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
Pope fell for 17 in the team's second innings on Saturday, adding to his poor record against the old enemy.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a half-century and averages 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has featured as many times in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
But, Crawley said any notion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "you guys" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know of his considerable talent," said he. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is talk from the outside. There's no chat of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," he finished.
