The English opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of statements made by skipper Stokes about the team environment as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes made this message in multiple interviews following England's loss in the second Ashes series versus the Australians earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had let his sentiment to "drift around" among the squad.
"I have completed all the talking over the past two days that I needed to have done," said Stokes.
But, following Crawley made 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to England suffered a loss in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The team afterwards took a holiday to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before this match, he revealed his team had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their prior tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," noted the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
The Hosts Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's wicket on day four was part of a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a daunting total of 435 runs.
This means, Australia require four wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 lead with three Tests.
Defeat would prolong England's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth straight away Ashes series loss.
The current battle will be completed in just eleven days of play – after England losing the initial matches in rapid time respectively.
The last time 1921, when Australia completed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"It's disappointing," said the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we will certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been tough. They're a formidable team. It was always going to be tough touring here against them. They entered as the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's performance in the third Test likely secures questions about his immediate future in the side, Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 runs in England's second knock on Saturday, extending his modest returns versus Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a half-century and averages just 17.62.
Only one other England player in over a century – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and recorded a poorer average.
But, Crawley insisted any notion his teammate is being scrutinised originates with "you guys" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said he. "He has had 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 in the camp," he finished.
