England opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments from skipper Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered this message in several conversations following England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series versus the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the playing group.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I required," remarked the England leader.
However, following the opener made a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. We take anything stated in the media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain made the "weak men" observation subsequent to his side suffered a loss in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards went on a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he revealed his players 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 stayed in line with their previous three years in charge.
"It's been very positive, the same as always," said the opener. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat going into this game."
Australia On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a notional target of 435 runs.
This means, Australia require four wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 lead after three matches played.
Defeat would prolong the English team's drought in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes series loss.
This series is set to be decided in just 11 days of play – after England losing the initial matches in two and four days each.
Not since 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," said the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been difficult. They're a formidable side. It was inevitably hard coming here against them. They were the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place In Question
While the opener's innings in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his short-term place in the side, Pope looks under threat for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in England's second knock on day four, adding to his modest returns versus the old enemy.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has featured as many times in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
But, the opener insisted any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "you guys" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. It is talk from the outside. There is no discussion like that regarding Pope amongst the players," he finished.
