England opener Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with statements made by skipper Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
Stokes delivered those words in multiple conversations following his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes against Australia previously.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes stated he had let his message to "drift around" within the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," said Stokes.
But, following the opener scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," he added.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
Stokes issued his "fragile individuals" observation after England were beaten in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently went on a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, he revealed his team had held "raw" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach McCullum had remained consistent with their previous three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," noted Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of something special going into this Test."
The Hosts Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant England 207-6 in pursuit of a notional target of 435.
Consequently, Australia require four wickets on the last day to move to an unassailable 3-0 lead after three Tests.
A loss would prolong the English team's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes defeat.
This series will be completed in only 11 days of cricket – with England losing the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"It's disappointing," said Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"The challenge has been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard coming here to face them. They were the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While the opener's performance in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his immediate place in the side, Pope appears under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in the team's second innings on Saturday, extending his poor record against the old enemy.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and boasts an average of just 17.62.
A solitary other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has played as many times in the top six in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
But, the opener said any notion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "the media" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year if I'm honest."
"He has produced several excellent innings. It is noise from the outside. There's no discussion like that regarding Pope amongst the players," he finished.
