England opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of statements from skipper Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder made this message in multiple conversations following his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes against the Australians earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, the captain stated he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" among the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," remarked Stokes.
However, following the opener scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "weak men" comment after England were beaten in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The team subsequently went on a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he revealed his players had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay in contention in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their prior tenure in charge.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat going into this game."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
The opener's wicket on day four came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Stokes himself – left England six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435.
This means, the home team need just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 advantage with three Tests.
Defeat will extend the English team's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series defeat.
This series will be completed in only 11 days of play – after England losing the first two Tests in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a formidable side. It was always going to be hard coming here against them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
Although Crawley's innings in Adelaide probably answers questions about his short-term place in the side, Ollie Pope looks under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in England's second innings on day four, extending his poor record against Australia.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a fifty and averages 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
However, Crawley insisted any suggestion Pope is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"We all know of his considerable talent," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is talk from the outside. There is no discussion of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
