England opener Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments made by skipper Stokes about the team environment as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered those words in multiple conversations in the wake of his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes versus the Australians previously.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had let his sentiment to "drift around" among the squad.
"I have completed all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
However, after Crawley scored 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, 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 press with a pinch of salt," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to his side suffered a loss in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently went on a holiday to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he said his team had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain alive in the series.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their previous tenure in charge.
"It's been very positive, the same as always," noted the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. It felt like we could do something special going into this game."
The Hosts Close of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday was part of a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia off-spinner Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435.
This means, Australia require just four more wickets on the final day to secure an insurmountable three-nil advantage after three Tests.
A loss will extend England's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series defeat.
The current battle will be completed in only 11 days of play – with England fell the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.
The last time 1921, when Australia completed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will definitely view it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. Australia is a very, very good team. It was always going to be hard coming here against them. They were the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
While the opener's performance in Adelaide likely secures questions about his short-term future in the side, Ollie Pope appears under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in England's second knock on day four, extending his poor record against Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and boasts an average of just 17.62.
A solitary other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
But, the opener said any notion Pope is under the microscope comes from "the media" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know of his considerable talent," said he. "He has had a productive year to be frank."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is talk externally. There is no discussion like that regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
