England opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with statements made by skipper Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".
Stokes made this message in several interviews in the wake of England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes against Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I've done the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," said Stokes.
However, after Crawley made a knock of 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 everything that is said in the media with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "fragile individuals" comment after his side suffered a loss in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The team subsequently took a break to Noosa between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to this match, Stokes said his players had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to remain in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the messaging from Stokes and coach McCullum had stayed in line with their previous tenure in charge.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," noted Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we could do something special going into this game."
The Hosts Close of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday came during a decisive triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left England 207-6 chasing a notional target of 435.
This means, Australia need four wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an unassailable three-nil advantage after three Tests.
Defeat would prolong the English team's winless run in this country to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth straight away Ashes loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in just 11 days of cricket – after England losing the initial matches in rapid time respectively.
The last time 1921, when Australia completed a series win in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been difficult. Australia is a very, very good team. It was always going to be tough coming here to face them. They were the front-runners and they've proven why."
Pope's Position In Question
Although the opener's innings in the third Test probably answers doubts about his short-term future in the England team, Pope looks under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 runs in England's second innings on day four, adding to his poor record against Australia.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and boasts an average of just 17.62.
Only one other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
However, Crawley said any notion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "the media" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."
"We all know of his considerable talent," said he. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. It is noise externally. There's no chat like that regarding Pope in the camp," he finished.
