The English opener Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments made by skipper Stokes about the team environment as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered those words in multiple conversations in the wake of his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes series against the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the playing group.
"I have completed all the talking in recent days that I required," remarked Stokes.
However, after the opener made a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
Stokes made the "weak men" comment subsequent to England were beaten in Brisbane to go two matches behind.
The England squad subsequently went on a holiday to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his players had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay alive in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the guidance from the captain and coach McCullum had stayed in line with their prior tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," noted Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do something special going into this Test."
Australia On the Verge of Rapid Ashes Triumph
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of 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 the final day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 lead with three matches played.
A loss would prolong the English team's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth straight overseas Ashes series defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in only 11 days of cricket – with England fell the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," said Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it like that," he continued.
"The challenge has been difficult. They're a formidable team. It was always going to be hard coming here against them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's innings in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his short-term future in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under threat for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 in the team's second knock on day four, adding to his poor record versus Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
However, the opener said any suggestion Pope is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – meaning the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is noise externally. There is no discussion of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley finished.
