The English opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments from captain Stokes about the dressing room not being "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder made those words in several conversations in the wake of his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes versus the Australians previously.
Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had let 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 Stokes.
But, following the opener scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the media with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "fragile individuals" observation after his side were beaten in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The England squad subsequently took a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and third Tests.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his players had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay alive in the series.
Yet, Crawley asserted the messaging from the captain and coach McCullum had stayed in line with their prior tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted the opener. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
The opener's dismissal on day four was part of a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Ben Stokes – left England 207-6 in pursuit of a notional target of 435.
Consequently, the home team require four wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an unassailable three-nil lead after three Tests.
A loss would prolong England's drought in this country to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth straight overseas Ashes loss.
This series will be completed in just eleven days of play – with England losing the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"It's disappointing," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're facing elimination at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. Australia is a formidable team. It was always going to be hard 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 likely secures doubts about his immediate future in the side, Pope looks under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 runs in England's second knock on Saturday, extending 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.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
But, the opener insisted any notion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added he. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is noise externally. There is no discussion like that on Ollie in the camp," Crawley concluded.
