England opener Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments made by skipper Stokes regarding the team environment as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder made those words in several conversations following England's loss in the second Ashes against Australia previously.
Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, 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 needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
But, following Crawley made 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "fragile individuals" observation subsequent to England were beaten in the second Test to go two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards took a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and third matches.
Before this match, Stokes revealed his players had held "raw" talks 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 guidance from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their prior tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said the opener. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat going into this Test."
The Hosts Close of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal on day four was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side 207-6 chasing a daunting target of 435 runs.
This means, the home team require four wickets on the final day to secure an unassailable 3-0 lead with three matches played.
A loss will extend the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth straight away Ashes loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in just eleven days of cricket – with England fell the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"It's disappointing," said the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been tough. Australia is a very, very good side. It was inevitably hard touring here to face them. They were the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."
Pope's Place In Question
While the opener's innings in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his short-term future in the England team, Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in the team's second knock on day four, extending his poor record versus Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.
But, the opener said any suggestion Pope is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said he. "He has had a productive year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is noise externally. There's no chat of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," he finished.
