England opener Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments from captain Stokes about the team environment as no place for "weak men".
Stokes delivered this message in multiple interviews in the wake of England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series against the Australians previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had let his sentiment to "drift around" within the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
But, after Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. We take anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "fragile individuals" observation after his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.
The England squad subsequently went on a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to this match, Stokes said his team had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from the captain and head coach McCullum had stayed in line with their prior tenure in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said the opener. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
The Hosts Close of Rapid Series Victory
The opener's wicket on day four was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left England six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435 runs.
This means, the home team require four wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 advantage after three matches played.
Defeat would prolong England's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes defeat.
The current battle will be completed in only 11 days of cricket – with England fell the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.
The last time 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel at this point."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been tough. They're a formidable side. It was always going to be tough coming here to face them. They were the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's innings in the third Test likely secures questions about his short-term future in the England team, Ollie Pope looks under threat for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
Pope was out for 17 in the team's second knock on Saturday, adding to his modest returns against Australia.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
But, the opener insisted any suggestion Pope is under the microscope comes from "you guys" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is talk externally. There's no discussion of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," Crawley concluded.
