England opener Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements made by captain Stokes regarding the team environment as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder made this message in multiple conversations following his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes versus Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where England now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had let his message to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I have completed all the talking over the past two 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 didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "weak men" comment subsequent to his side were beaten in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards took a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, he said his team had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay alive in the Ashes battle.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from Stokes and coach McCullum had stayed in line with their previous tenure in charge.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday was part of a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets 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 runs.
Consequently, the home team require just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an unassailable 3-0 lead with three Tests.
A loss will extend England's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in just 11 days of play – after England losing the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disheartening," admitted Crawley. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a very, very good side. It was inevitably tough touring here to face them. They were the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's innings in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his immediate place in the England team, Ollie Pope looks under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
Pope fell for 17 in the team's second innings on day four, extending his modest returns versus Australia.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
But, Crawley said any notion his teammate is under the microscope originates with "the media" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"We all know how good of a player he is," added Crawley. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is noise from the outside. There's no discussion like that on Ollie in the camp," he finished.
