The English opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments made by skipper Stokes regarding the team environment as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered those words in multiple interviews following his team's defeat in the second Ashes versus Australia previously.
Ahead of the third Test, where England now face a series loss with a match to spare, the captain stated he had let his sentiment to "drift around" among the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
However, following Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, 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 made the "weak men" observation subsequent to England were beaten in Brisbane to go two matches behind.
The England squad subsequently took a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and third Tests.
Prior to this match, Stokes revealed his players had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to remain alive in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from the captain and coach McCullum had stayed in line with their prior tenure in charge.
"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
The Hosts Close of Rapid Series Victory
The opener's wicket on day four came during a crucial triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side 207-6 chasing a daunting target of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team need four wickets on Sunday's final day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 lead with three matches played.
Defeat will extend the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in just eleven days of cricket – after England losing the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disheartening," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel now."
"There remains plenty to play for and we will certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been tough. Australia is a formidable team. It was inevitably hard coming here against them. They were the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
While the opener's innings in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his short-term place in the side, Ollie Pope looks under threat for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
Pope fell for 17 runs in the team's second innings on day four, adding to his modest returns versus Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has never made a half-century and averages 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and recorded a poorer average.
However, the opener insisted 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. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has produced several excellent innings. This is talk externally. There's no chat like that on Ollie in the camp," he finished.
