England opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of statements made by skipper Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered those words in several interviews in the wake of his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series versus the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had let his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the squad.
"I have completed all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
But, after Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "weak men" observation subsequent to his side suffered a loss in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The England squad subsequently took a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Prior to this match, Stokes revealed his players had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain alive in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, Crawley stated the messaging from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their prior three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," said the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, 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 came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a notional total of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team need just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an unassailable 3-0 lead with three Tests.
Defeat would prolong the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes series loss.
This series is set to be decided in only eleven days of play – with England losing the initial matches in two and four days each.
Not since 1921, when Australia sealed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," said Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we will certainly approach it like that," he continued.
"The challenge has been difficult. They're a very, very good side. It was always going to be hard touring here against them. They were the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
Although the opener's innings in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his short-term place in the side, Pope looks under threat for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in England's second innings on day four, adding to his modest returns against the old enemy.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and recorded a lower average.
However, the opener insisted any notion Pope is under the microscope comes from "the media" – meaning the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is talk externally. There is no chat like that on Ollie in the camp," he finished.
