The English opener Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments from captain Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder delivered this message in several interviews in the wake of England's defeat in the second Ashes series versus Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face a series loss with a match to spare, the captain stated he had allowed his message to "drift around" within the playing group.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I required," remarked the England leader.
However, following Crawley made 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "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 some skepticism," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to England were beaten in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards went on a holiday to Noosa in the gap between the second and third matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his players had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay alive in the Ashes battle.
Yet, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from the captain and head coach McCullum had remained in line with their prior three years in charge.
"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do something special going into this game."
Australia On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435.
This means, Australia need just four more wickets on the final day to secure an unassailable three-nil lead after three Tests.
Defeat would prolong England's drought in this country to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth successive overseas Ashes series loss.
The current battle will be completed in only 11 days of cricket – with England losing the initial matches in rapid time each.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been determined so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"It's disheartening," said Crawley. "We came here to regain the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was always going to be tough coming here against them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While the opener's performance in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his short-term place in the side, Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
Pope fell for 17 in the team's second knock on day four, extending his poor record against the old enemy.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has played as many times in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
However, the opener insisted any suggestion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," added he. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. It is noise from the outside. There is no discussion of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," he concluded.
