England opener Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments from captain Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered those words in several conversations following his team's defeat in the second Ashes series versus Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England now face a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the playing group.
"I've done the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
But, following Crawley scored 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the media with a pinch of salt," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "fragile individuals" observation after England suffered a loss in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.
The team subsequently went on a holiday to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his players had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, Crawley asserted the messaging from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their previous three years in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat going into this game."
The Hosts Close of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435 runs.
This means, the home team need four wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 advantage with three Tests.
Defeat would prolong England's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth successive overseas Ashes loss.
This series is set to be decided in only 11 days of play – after England fell the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disheartening," said 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 will definitely view it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a formidable team. It was inevitably tough coming here against them. They were the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place In Question
While the opener's innings in the third Test probably answers doubts about his immediate place in the side, Pope looks under threat for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
Pope fell for 17 runs in England's second innings on Saturday, adding to his poor record versus the old enemy.
In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and averages 17.62.
Only one other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
But, Crawley said any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "the media" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," added he. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has produced several excellent innings. This is noise externally. There's no chat like that on Ollie in the camp," Crawley finished.
