England opener Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of statements from captain Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes made this message in multiple interviews in the wake of his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes series versus the Australians previously.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I required," said the England leader.
But, following the opener scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take everything that is said in the media with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "fragile individuals" observation after England suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards took a holiday to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before this match, he said his team had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain alive in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from the captain and head coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior three years in leadership.
"It's been very positive, the same as always," said the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with great liberty. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat going into this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's wicket on day four came during a decisive triple-strike by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left England 207-6 chasing a daunting target of 435.
Consequently, Australia need just four more wickets on the last day to move to an unassailable 3-0 lead with three Tests.
A loss will extend England's winless run in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes defeat.
This series will be completed in only eleven days of cricket – with England fell the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when Australia completed a series win in the UK 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.
"It's disappointing," said the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we will definitely view it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. Australia is a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard touring here to face them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place In Question
Although the opener's innings in the third Test likely secures doubts about his immediate future in the England team, Pope looks under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
Pope was out for 17 runs in the team's second innings on day four, extending his modest returns against Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
However, the opener said any notion Pope is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added he. "He has had a productive year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is noise externally. There is no discussion of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley finished.
