England opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments from skipper Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder delivered those words in multiple interviews in the wake of England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series versus Australia previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, Stokes stated he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" within the squad.
"I have completed all the talking over the past two days that I needed to have done," said Stokes.
But, following Crawley scored 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the media with some skepticism," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "fragile individuals" observation subsequent to England suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.
The team afterwards took a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third matches.
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 remain alive in the Ashes battle.
Yet, Crawley stated the messaging from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their previous tenure in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said the opener. "It's just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we were capable of something special entering this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Ashes Triumph
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – left England six down for 207 chasing a notional total of 435 runs.
This means, Australia need just four more wickets on the last day to move to an unassailable 3-0 lead after three matches played.
Defeat would prolong England's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth successive away Ashes loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in only 11 days of cricket – with England losing the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," said Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. They're a very, very good side. It was inevitably tough coming here to face them. They were the front-runners and they've proven why."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While the opener's performance in the third Test probably answers questions about his short-term place in the England team, 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 Saturday, extending his poor record versus Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a half-century and boasts an average of just 17.62.
Only one other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
But, Crawley insisted any notion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is talk externally. There is no discussion like that regarding Pope in the camp," he finished.
