England opener Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments from captain Stokes regarding the team environment as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered this message in multiple conversations following his team's defeat in the second Ashes series against the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face a series loss with a match to spare, the captain noted he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
But, after the opener scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "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 some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "weak men" comment subsequent to his side were beaten in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards went on a break to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Prior to this match, he said his players had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay alive in the series.
Yet, Crawley stated the guidance from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their previous tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," said the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat entering this game."
The Hosts Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's wicket on day four came during a decisive triple-strike by Australian spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – meant England six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional total of 435.
Consequently, Australia require just four more wickets on Sunday's final day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 advantage with three matches played.
A loss would prolong the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes series loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in only eleven days of play – with England fell the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when Australia sealed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disheartening," admitted the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it like that," he continued.
"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a very, very good side. It was always going to be hard touring here to face them. They entered as the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's performance in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his immediate place in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
Pope fell for 17 in the team's second innings on day four, adding to his modest returns against Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and averages 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
However, Crawley insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has produced several excellent innings. It is talk from the outside. There's no chat of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," he finished.
