England opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of statements made by captain Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes made those words in several interviews in the wake of his team's defeat in the second Ashes series against Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had let his message to "drift around" among the squad.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
However, after the opener scored 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. We take everything that is said in the press with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "fragile individuals" comment after England suffered a loss in Brisbane to go two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards went on a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third Tests.
Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes said his players had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay alive in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from the captain and coach McCullum had remained consistent with their prior three years in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we could do something special entering this Test."
Australia On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
The opener's wicket on day four came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left England 207-6 chasing a notional target of 435 runs.
This means, Australia require just four more wickets on Sunday's final day to secure an insurmountable three-nil lead with three matches played.
A loss would prolong the English team's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes series defeat.
This series is set to be decided in just eleven days of cricket – with England fell the first two Tests in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"It's disheartening," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a formidable team. It was inevitably tough coming here to face them. They were the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's performance in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his immediate future in the England team, Ollie Pope looks under threat for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
Pope fell for 17 in England's second innings on Saturday, extending his poor record versus Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and averages just 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.
But, Crawley insisted any suggestion Pope is under the microscope originates with "the media" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," added he. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has produced several excellent innings. This is noise from the outside. There is no chat like that on Ollie in the camp," he finished.
