England opener Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments from captain Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".
Stokes delivered those words in several conversations following England's loss in the second Ashes versus Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had let his sentiment to "drift around" within the squad.
"I have completed all the talking over the past two days that I required," said Stokes.
However, after the opener made 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, 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 press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "fragile individuals" observation subsequent to England were beaten in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.
The England squad subsequently took a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he revealed his players had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain alive in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior tenure in charge.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," said Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat going into this Test."
The Hosts Close of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal on day four came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Ben Stokes – meant England 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435.
Consequently, the home team need just four more wickets on the last day to secure an insurmountable three-nil lead after three Tests.
Defeat would prolong England's winless run in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes series loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in just eleven days of cricket – with England losing the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disheartening," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we will certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a very, very good team. It was always going to be hard touring here to face them. They entered as the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's innings in the third Test likely secures questions about his short-term place in the side, Pope looks under threat for his position in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in the team's second knock on day four, extending his poor record versus Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and averages 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and recorded a poorer average.
But, Crawley insisted any notion his teammate is being scrutinised originates with "you guys" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know of his considerable talent," said he. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has produced some really good knocks. It is noise externally. There's no discussion like that on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
