England opener Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments from skipper Stokes about the dressing room not being "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder made those words in several conversations following England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series against the Australians previously.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where England are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had let his sentiment to "drift around" among the squad.
"I have completed all the talking over the past two days that I required," said Stokes.
But, following the opener made a knock of 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to England suffered a loss in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The team subsequently went on a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before this match, Stokes said his team had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay alive in the series.
Yet, Crawley stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach McCullum had stayed in line with their prior tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted the opener. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. It felt like we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
The opener's wicket late on Saturday came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435 runs.
This means, the home team require just four more wickets on the last day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 lead after three matches played.
A loss would prolong England's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes defeat.
This series will be completed in just 11 days of cricket – with England losing the initial matches in rapid time each.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," said Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been difficult. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard coming here to face them. They were the favourites coming in to it they've proven why."
Pope's Place In Question
While Crawley's innings in the third Test probably answers questions about his immediate future in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in the team's second knock on Saturday, extending his poor record versus Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
Only one other England player in over a century – Amiss – has played as many times in the top six in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
However, Crawley insisted any suggestion 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. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is talk externally. There is no discussion of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," he finished.
