England opener Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments made by skipper Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered those words in multiple interviews in the wake of England's loss in the second match of the Ashes against the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, Stokes stated he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I have completed all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
However, following the opener scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, 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," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
Stokes issued his "fragile individuals" observation subsequent to England suffered a loss in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards took a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before this match, he revealed his team had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from Stokes and coach McCullum had remained in line with their previous tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat entering this game."
The Hosts Close of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a daunting target of 435.
This means, the home team need four wickets on the final day to secure an unassailable 3-0 lead with three matches played.
A loss would prolong the English team's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes defeat.
This series is set to be decided in only 11 days of cricket – with England fell the initial matches in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"It's disappointing," admitted Crawley. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it like that," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been difficult. Australia is a very, very good side. It was always going to be hard touring here to face them. They were the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
While the opener's innings in the third Test probably answers questions about his short-term place in the England team, Pope appears under threat for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 runs in the team's second innings on Saturday, adding to his modest returns against Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and averages just 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
However, Crawley said any suggestion his teammate is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said he. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has played several excellent innings. It is talk from the outside. There is no discussion of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," Crawley concluded.
