The English opener Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments made by captain Stokes regarding the team environment as no place for "weak men".
Stokes delivered those words in several conversations in the wake of England's loss in the second Ashes versus the Australians previously.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had let his message to "circulate freely" among the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," said Stokes.
However, following the opener scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, 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," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
The captain made the "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to England suffered a loss in the second Test to go two matches behind.
The England squad subsequently took a holiday to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his team had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the guidance from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their prior tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said the opener. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of something special going into this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's wicket late on Saturday came during a decisive triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant England six down for 207 chasing a daunting total of 435 runs.
Consequently, Australia need just four more wickets on the last day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 lead after three Tests.
Defeat will extend the English team's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in only eleven days of play – with England fell the initial matches in two and four days each.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been determined so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"It's disheartening," said Crawley. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"The challenge has been difficult. They're a very, very good team. It was always going to be hard coming here to face them. They were the favourites coming in to it they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While the opener's innings in the third Test likely secures doubts about his short-term future in the England team, Pope appears under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
Pope fell for 17 in England's second innings on day four, extending his modest returns against the old enemy.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has never made a fifty and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has played as many times in the top six in the Ashes and recorded a poorer average.
However, Crawley insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised originates with "you guys" – meaning the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added he. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has produced some really good knocks. It is talk externally. There's no discussion like that regarding Pope amongst the players," he concluded.
