The English opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments made by captain Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes made those words in multiple interviews following England's loss in the second Ashes series against the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at defeat with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" within the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
However, following the opener scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"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 Steady Philosophy
Stokes made the "fragile individuals" observation subsequent to his side suffered a loss in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards went on a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes said his players had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley stated the guidance from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their previous three years in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we were capable of something special going into this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday came during a decisive triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a notional target of 435.
This means, Australia need four wickets on the last day to move to an unassailable 3-0 lead with three matches played.
Defeat would prolong England's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes defeat.
This series will be completed in just 11 days of play – after England fell the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disheartening," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will definitely view it with that mindset," he continued.
"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a very, very good side. It was inevitably hard coming here to face them. They were the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position In Question
While Crawley's performance in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his immediate future in the side, Pope appears under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 runs in the team's second knock on Saturday, extending his modest returns versus the old enemy.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a half-century and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in the Ashes and recorded a poorer average.
However, Crawley insisted any notion his teammate is under the microscope originates with "you guys" – referring to the press – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. It is noise externally. There's no discussion of that nature on Ollie in the camp," he concluded.
