England opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments from captain Stokes about the team environment as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder delivered this message in several conversations in the wake of England's defeat in the second Ashes versus the Australians earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had allowed his message to "drift around" within the squad.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
However, following the opener scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "fragile individuals" observation subsequent to his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards went on a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to this match, he revealed his team had held "raw" conversations and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to remain in contention in the series.
Yet, Crawley asserted the guidance from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their previous tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," said the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of something special entering this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's wicket on day four came during a decisive triple-strike by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left England six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional target of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team require just four more wickets on the last day to move to an insurmountable three-nil lead with three matches played.
Defeat would prolong the English team's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth straight overseas Ashes series defeat.
This series will be completed in only 11 days of play – with England losing the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been determined more swiftly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," admitted Crawley. "We came here to regain the Ashes and we're facing elimination at this point."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard coming here to face them. They entered as the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While the opener's performance in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his immediate future in the side, Ollie Pope appears under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
Pope was out for 17 runs in the team's second knock on Saturday, extending his modest returns against Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
However, Crawley said any notion his teammate is under the microscope originates with "you guys" – referring to the press – "not inside the camp."
"We all know of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is noise externally. There is no discussion like that on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley finished.
