The English opener Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with statements made by skipper Stokes regarding the team environment as no place for "weak men".
Stokes delivered this message in several interviews following his team's defeat in the second Ashes versus Australia previously.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors now face defeat with a match to spare, the captain stated he had let his message to "drift around" within the playing group.
"I have completed all the talking in recent days that I required," remarked the England leader.
However, following Crawley scored 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching 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 "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to his side suffered a loss in the second Test to go two matches behind.
The team afterwards went on a break to Noosa between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he said his players had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay alive in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from Stokes and coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior three years in charge.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," noted the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this Test."
The Hosts Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's wicket on day four was part of a crucial three-wicket burst by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Stokes himself – left England 207-6 chasing a daunting target of 435.
This means, the home team need four wickets on the last day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 advantage with three Tests.
Defeat will extend England's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in only 11 days of play – with England losing the first two Tests in rapid time each.
Not since 1921, when Australia 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 modern era.
"It's disheartening," said the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard touring here against them. They entered as the favourites and they've proven why."
Pope's Place In Question
Although the opener's performance in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his immediate future in the side, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in the team's second innings on Saturday, extending his poor record versus Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has never made a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
But, Crawley insisted any notion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year to be frank."
"He has produced several excellent innings. This is noise externally. There's no chat like that regarding Pope amongst the players," he concluded.
