England opener Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments from skipper Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "weak men".
Stokes made those words in multiple interviews in the wake of England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes versus the Australians previously.
Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors now face defeat with a match to spare, the captain stated he had allowed his message to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I required," remarked the England leader.
However, following the opener made 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, 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 Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "weak men" comment subsequent to England suffered a loss in the second Test to go two matches behind.
The team afterwards took a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he said his team had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to remain alive in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from the captain and coach McCullum had remained in line with their prior three years in charge.
"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's dismissal on day four came during a decisive triple-strike by Australian spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a notional total of 435 runs.
This means, the home team require four wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 advantage after three matches played.
Defeat would prolong England's drought in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in only eleven days of play – with England fell the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined so quickly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," said Crawley. "We came here to win the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel now."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been tough. They're a formidable team. It was inevitably hard touring here to face them. They entered as the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place In Question
While Crawley's innings in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his immediate place in the side, Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 runs in England's second knock on Saturday, extending his modest returns versus Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
However, Crawley insisted any notion Pope is under the microscope comes from "you guys" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year if I'm honest."
"He has produced some really good knocks. It is talk from the outside. There is no discussion of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," Crawley finished.
