The English opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments from captain Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered this message in multiple interviews in the wake of England's defeat in the second Ashes series against Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where England are staring at defeat with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had let his sentiment to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
But, after the opener scored 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to his side suffered a loss in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently went on a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before this match, Stokes said his team had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay alive in the Ashes battle.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their previous tenure in leadership.
"It's been very positive, unchanged," noted Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat going into this game."
The Hosts Close of Historic Series Victory
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side 207-6 chasing a daunting target of 435.
This means, Australia need four wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an unassailable 3-0 lead after three matches played.
Defeat would prolong England's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth successive overseas Ashes series defeat.
This series will be completed in only eleven days of cricket – with England losing the first two Tests in rapid time each.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed victory in England 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 modern era.
"It's disheartening," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a formidable team. It was always going to be hard coming here to face them. They entered as the favourites coming in to it they've proven why."
Pope's Place In Question
Although the opener's performance in Adelaide likely secures questions about his immediate place in the England team, Pope looks under threat for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
Pope was out for 17 runs in England's second knock on Saturday, adding to his poor record versus the old enemy.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and averages 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in the Ashes and recorded a poorer average.
But, the opener insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has produced several excellent innings. This is noise externally. There's no discussion like that on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
