England opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with statements from skipper Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered those words in several conversations following his team's defeat in the second Ashes series versus the Australians earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat with a match to spare, the captain stated he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
But, following Crawley scored 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "fragile individuals" observation subsequent to his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards took a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he said his players had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay alive in the series.
Yet, Crawley asserted the guidance from Stokes and coach McCullum had remained consistent with their previous three years in charge.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," said Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do something special entering this Test."
Australia Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's wicket late on Saturday came during a crucial triple-strike by Australian spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435.
This means, the home team need just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an unassailable three-nil lead after three Tests.
A loss would prolong England's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes series loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in only eleven days of play – with England fell the initial matches in rapid time each.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disheartening," said the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. They're a very, very good side. It was inevitably tough touring here to face them. They were the favourites and they've proven why."
Pope's Place In Question
Although the opener's innings in Adelaide probably answers questions about his short-term place in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in the team's second knock on day four, extending his poor record against the old enemy.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a half-century and boasts an average of just 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
But, the opener said any notion his teammate is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," added Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. It is talk from the outside. There's no chat like that regarding Pope amongst the players," he concluded.
