The English opener Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments from skipper Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "weak men".
Stokes delivered those words in several interviews in the wake of his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series versus Australia earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" among the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I required," said Stokes.
However, following Crawley scored 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. We take everything that is said in the press with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to England suffered a loss in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently went on a break to Noosa between the second and third Tests.
Before this match, he revealed his team had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the messaging from the captain and head coach McCullum had remained in line with their previous tenure in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do something special going into this Test."
The Hosts Close of Historic Series Victory
The opener's dismissal on day four was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australian spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left England 207-6 in pursuit of a notional total of 435 runs.
This means, the home team require just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an unassailable three-nil advantage after three matches played.
A loss will extend the English team's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes series defeat.
This series will be completed in just eleven days of play – after England losing the initial matches in rapid time each.
The last time 1921, when Australia completed 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.
"It's disappointing," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was 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," he continued.
"It's been tough. Australia is a very, very good side. It was always going to be hard touring here to face them. They entered as the favourites and they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While the opener's performance in the third Test likely secures questions about his immediate place in the England team, Pope appears under threat for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in England's second innings on Saturday, extending his modest returns against Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
Only one other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and recorded a poorer average.
However, the opener said any notion Pope is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – meaning the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. It is noise externally. There's no discussion of that nature regarding Pope amongst the players," he concluded.
