England opener Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments from skipper Stokes about the team environment as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered those words in multiple conversations in the wake of his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes versus Australia previously.
Ahead of the third Test, where England now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had allowed his message to "drift around" within the squad.
"I have completed all the talking in recent days that I required," remarked the England leader.
But, following the opener scored 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "weak men" observation after his side were beaten 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 matches.
Prior to this match, Stokes said his players had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay alive in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the messaging from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior tenure in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do something special entering this Test."
Australia Close of Historic Series Victory
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday came during a crucial triple-strike by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left England 207-6 chasing a daunting total of 435.
This means, Australia need four wickets on the final day to move to an insurmountable three-nil lead after three Tests.
A loss will extend the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth successive away Ashes series loss.
This series will be completed in only eleven days of cricket – with England losing the initial matches in rapid time respectively.
The last time 1921, when Australia completed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disheartening," said the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're facing elimination at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard touring here against them. They were the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's performance in the third Test probably answers doubts about his short-term future in the England team, Ollie Pope looks under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in the team's second knock on Saturday, adding to his poor record versus Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and averages just 17.62.
Only one other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has featured as many times in the top six in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
However, the opener said any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "you guys" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. It is noise from the outside. There is no chat like that on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley finished.
