England opener Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments from captain Stokes about the team environment as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered those words in several conversations in the wake of England's loss in the second Ashes versus the Australians earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, the captain noted he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
But, following the opener made 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the press with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "fragile individuals" observation after England suffered a loss in Brisbane to go two matches behind.
The England squad subsequently went on a holiday to Noosa between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he revealed his team had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, the Kent batsman asserted the guidance from the captain and coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," said Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat going into this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left England 207-6 in pursuit of a notional target of 435.
Consequently, the home team need just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an unassailable three-nil advantage with three Tests.
A loss would prolong the English team's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in just 11 days of play – with England fell the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided so quickly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," admitted Crawley. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we will certainly approach it like that," he continued.
"The challenge has been difficult. Australia is a very, very good team. It was always going to be hard coming here to face them. They were the favourites and they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While the opener's innings in the third Test likely secures doubts about his immediate future in the side, Pope appears under threat for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 runs in England's second knock on Saturday, extending his poor record against the old enemy.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
Only one other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
However, Crawley insisted any notion his teammate is under the microscope originates with "the media" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is noise from the outside. There's no discussion of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," he finished.
