The English opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with statements made by captain Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered those words in several conversations following his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes versus the Australians earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes stated he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
However, after Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, 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 media with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "fragile individuals" observation subsequent to his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards took a holiday to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his team had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay in contention in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their previous three years in charge.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," said Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat going into this Test."
Australia On the Verge of Rapid Ashes Triumph
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday came during a crucial triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team need just four more wickets on the last day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 lead after three matches played.
Defeat would prolong England's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth straight overseas Ashes loss.
This series is set to be decided in only eleven days of cricket – after England fell the initial matches in two and four days each.
Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"It's disheartening," said the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel now."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it like that," he continued.
"It's been tough. They're a formidable team. It was inevitably tough touring here to face them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Position In Question
Although Crawley's performance in Adelaide probably answers questions about his immediate future in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 runs in England's second knock on Saturday, adding to his poor record against Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a fifty and averages 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
However, Crawley said any notion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "the media" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. It is noise externally. There's no chat of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley finished.
