England opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements made by captain Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "weak men".
The all-rounder made those words in several conversations in the wake of England's defeat in the second Ashes versus Australia previously.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England now face defeat with a match to spare, the captain stated he had let his message to "circulate freely" within the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
But, after the opener scored 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 everything that is said in the media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "fragile individuals" observation subsequent to England suffered a loss in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The team afterwards took a break to Noosa between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to this match, he said his players had held "raw" conversations and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to remain alive in the Ashes battle.
Yet, Crawley stated the guidance from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their previous three years in charge.
"It's been very positive, the same as always," said the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do something special going into this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal on day four came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a notional target of 435 runs.
This means, the home team need just four more wickets on the final day to move to an unassailable 3-0 advantage after three Tests.
Defeat will extend England's winless run in this country to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth successive overseas Ashes series defeat.
This series is set to be decided in only 11 days of cricket – after England fell the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia sealed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," admitted the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will definitely view it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. Australia is a formidable team. It was inevitably tough coming here against them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While the opener's performance in the third Test probably answers questions about his immediate future in the side, Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 in the team's second knock on day four, adding to his poor record versus the old enemy.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a fifty and averages just 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and recorded a lower average.
However, Crawley insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – referring to the press – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has produced several excellent innings. This is noise from the outside. There's no chat of that nature regarding Pope amongst the players," he finished.
