England opener Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments made by skipper Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
Stokes made those words in multiple interviews in the wake of England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes against Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had allowed his message to "drift around" within the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
However, after the opener made a knock of 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 a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain issued his "weak men" observation after his side suffered a loss in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently went on a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to this match, he revealed his players had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, Crawley asserted the messaging from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their previous three years in charge.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," said Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this Test."
Australia Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's wicket on day four came during a crucial triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional target of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team need just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 lead with three matches played.
A loss will extend England's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes series defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in just eleven days of play – after England losing the first two Tests in two and four days each.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined so quickly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"It's disheartening," said Crawley. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably tough touring here to face them. They entered as the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Position In Question
While the opener's innings in Adelaide likely secures questions about his short-term future in the side, Ollie Pope appears under threat for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 runs in the team's second innings on day four, extending his poor record against Australia.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a half-century and averages 17.62.
Only one other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
However, Crawley insisted any notion Pope is under the microscope originates with "the media" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. It is talk from the outside. There is no discussion of that nature regarding Pope amongst the players," he concluded.
