England opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments from captain Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered those words in multiple interviews in the wake of his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series versus Australia previously.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where England are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, the captain noted he had allowed his message to "drift around" within the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
But, following the opener scored a knock of 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. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "weak men" comment subsequent to England were beaten in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The team subsequently took a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes said his team had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to remain alive in the series.
Yet, Crawley asserted the guidance from Stokes and head coach McCullum had remained consistent with their previous three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," said Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we were capable of an extraordinary feat entering this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's wicket late on Saturday came during a crucial triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – meant England six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435.
Consequently, Australia require just four more wickets on the last day to move to an unassailable three-nil lead with three Tests.
Defeat would prolong the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes series defeat.
The current battle will be completed in only 11 days of cricket – after England fell the first two Tests in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"It's disappointing," admitted Crawley. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"The challenge has been difficult. Australia is a formidable side. It was always going to be tough touring here to face them. They were the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's innings in Adelaide likely secures questions about his short-term place in the side, Ollie Pope appears under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in the team's second innings on day four, extending his modest returns against the old enemy.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a half-century and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
However, the opener insisted any notion his teammate is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added he. "He has had a productive year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. It is talk externally. There is no discussion of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," he concluded.
