The English opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments made by skipper Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".
The all-rounder made this message in several conversations in the wake of England's loss in the second match of the Ashes versus the Australians previously.
Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had let his sentiment to "drift around" within the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," said the England leader.
But, after Crawley scored 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the press with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "fragile individuals" observation subsequent to England suffered a loss in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards went on a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third matches.
Prior to this match, Stokes revealed his team had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the guidance from Stokes and head coach McCullum had stayed in line with their previous three years in charge.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," said Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
Australia Close of Rapid Series Victory
The opener's wicket late on Saturday came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a daunting total of 435.
Consequently, the home team need just four more wickets on the final day to move to an unassailable three-nil lead with three matches played.
A loss will extend the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in only 11 days of play – with England fell the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.
The last time 1921, when Australia completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"It's disheartening," said Crawley. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we will definitely view it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a formidable team. It was always going to be tough coming here against them. They entered as the favourites and they've proven why."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's innings in the third Test probably answers doubts about his short-term place in the side, Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in England's second innings on day four, adding to his poor record versus Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.
A solitary other England player in over a century – Amiss – has featured as many times in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
However, the opener said any suggestion Pope is under the microscope originates with "the media" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added he. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. It is noise externally. There's no chat of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," he concluded.
