England opener Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of statements from skipper Stokes about the team environment as no place for "weak men".
Stokes made this message in multiple interviews in the wake of England's loss in the second Ashes series against the Australians previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England now face a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had let his sentiment 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 Stokes.
However, following the opener scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the media with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "weak men" observation subsequent to England suffered a loss in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards took a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before this match, Stokes said his team had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to remain in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach McCullum had remained in line with their prior tenure in charge.
"It's been very positive, unchanged," noted Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we were capable of something special entering this Test."
Australia Close of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday was part of a crucial three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – left England 207-6 chasing a daunting target of 435.
Consequently, Australia require just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an unassailable 3-0 lead after three Tests.
Defeat will extend the English team's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes loss.
The current battle will be completed in just 11 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 Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disheartening," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it like that," he continued.
"It's been tough. Australia is a very, very good side. It was always going to be tough touring here against them. They were the front-runners and they've proven why."
Pope's Position In Question
While the opener's performance in the third Test probably answers doubts about his short-term place in the England team, Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 runs in England's second innings on day four, extending his poor record versus Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
But, Crawley insisted any notion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said he. "He has had a productive year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. It is talk externally. There's no chat like that on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley finished.
