England opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments made by skipper Stokes about the team environment not being "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes made this message in several conversations following his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes versus the Australians previously.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where England are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had let his message to "drift around" among the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
However, after the opener made 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 anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "weak men" observation subsequent to his side were beaten in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.
The team subsequently went on a break to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming Tests.
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 stay in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the guidance from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their previous tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," said the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of something special entering this game."
The Hosts Close of Rapid Series Victory
The opener's wicket late on Saturday was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435 runs.
This means, Australia require four wickets on the final day to secure an insurmountable three-nil advantage with three Tests.
Defeat would prolong England's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes series loss.
This series will be completed in just 11 days of cricket – after England losing the first two Tests in rapid time each.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disheartening," admitted Crawley. "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'll definitely view it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been tough. They're a formidable team. It was always going to be tough touring here to face them. They entered as the favourites and they've proven why."
Pope's Place In Question
Although Crawley's performance in the third Test likely secures doubts about his short-term place in the England team, Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in the team's second innings on Saturday, extending his modest returns against Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and averages 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
However, Crawley insisted any notion Pope is under the microscope originates with "the media" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has produced several excellent innings. It is noise from the outside. There's no chat of that nature on Ollie in the camp," Crawley finished.
