England opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments made by captain Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes made those words in several interviews in the wake of England's defeat in the second Ashes series versus Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where England now face a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had let his message to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
But, following the opener made a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the media with some skepticism," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "weak men" observation subsequent to his side suffered a loss in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The team subsequently took a break to Noosa between the second and third matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his team had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay alive in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the guidance from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their prior three years in charge.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
The Hosts Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's wicket late on Saturday was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australian spinner Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Stokes himself – left England six down for 207 chasing a daunting target of 435.
This means, the home team require just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 advantage after three Tests.
A loss will extend England's drought in this country to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth successive away Ashes series defeat.
This series is set to be decided in just 11 days of play – after England fell the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined more swiftly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disheartening," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will definitely view it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a very, very good team. It was inevitably tough coming here against them. They entered as the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While the opener's performance in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his short-term place in the side, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in England's second knock on day four, adding to his modest returns versus Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.
A solitary other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
However, Crawley insisted any notion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "the media" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," added he. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is talk externally. There is no discussion of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," Crawley finished.
