The English opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments made by captain Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered this message in multiple conversations following England's loss in the second Ashes versus Australia previously.
Ahead of the third Test, where England are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had allowed his message to "drift around" among the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
But, following the opener scored 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take everything that is said in the media with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain made the "fragile individuals" observation subsequent to his side suffered a loss in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards took a break to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, he revealed his team had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the guidance from Stokes and head coach McCullum had remained consistent with their prior tenure in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with great liberty. It felt like we were capable of an extraordinary feat entering this game."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
The opener's wicket late on Saturday came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a daunting target of 435 runs.
This means, Australia require just four more wickets on the last day to secure an unassailable 3-0 advantage with three matches played.
Defeat would prolong the English team's winless run in Australia 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 – after England fell the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"It's disheartening," admitted 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'll definitely view it like that," he continued.
"It's been tough. Australia is a formidable 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."
Pope's Place In Question
While Crawley's innings in the third Test probably answers doubts about his immediate place in the side, Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in the team's second innings on Saturday, adding to his modest returns against Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a half-century and averages just 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 recorded a poorer average.
But, the opener insisted any suggestion Pope is under the microscope comes from "the media" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is noise from the outside. There is no chat of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," he finished.
