The English opener Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with statements from captain Stokes regarding the team environment as no place for "weak men".
Stokes made those words in several interviews in the wake of England's loss in the second match of the Ashes series against Australia previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" within the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," said Stokes.
However, following Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. We take anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "weak men" observation after England suffered a loss in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.
The team afterwards took a break to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he revealed his players had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their prior tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," noted the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do something special entering this Test."
Australia Close of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team require just four more wickets on the last day to move to an unassailable 3-0 advantage with three Tests.
A loss will extend England's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth successive overseas Ashes series defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in only 11 days of play – with England losing the initial matches in two and four days each.
Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," said the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we will definitely view it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard coming here against them. They entered as the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's performance in Adelaide probably answers questions about his short-term place in the England team, Pope appears under threat for his position in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in England's second innings on Saturday, adding to his poor record versus the old enemy.
In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a fifty and averages 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has featured as many times in the top six in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
But, Crawley insisted any suggestion his teammate is being scrutinised originates with "you guys" – referring to the press – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is noise externally. There is no discussion like that on Ollie amongst the players," he finished.
