The English opener Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments made by captain Stokes regarding the team environment not being "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes made this message in several conversations following England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series against Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where England are staring at defeat with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had let his message to "drift around" among the squad.
"I have completed all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
But, after the opener scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to go two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards went on a holiday to Noosa in the gap between the second and third Tests.
Prior to this match, Stokes revealed his players had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay alive in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, Crawley stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach McCullum had stayed in line with their prior tenure in charge.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
Australia Close of Historic Series Victory
The opener's wicket on day four was part of a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – left England six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435.
Consequently, Australia need just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an unassailable three-nil advantage after three matches played.
A loss will extend England's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth straight away Ashes defeat.
This series will be completed in just eleven days of cricket – with England losing the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"It's disappointing," admitted Crawley. "We came here to regain the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel now."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. They're 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 Place Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's performance in the third Test likely secures questions about his short-term place in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in England's second knock on day four, adding to his modest returns against Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.
A solitary other England player in over a century – Amiss – has played as many times in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
However, Crawley insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is noise from the outside. There is no discussion like that regarding Pope in the camp," he finished.
