England opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments made by captain Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".
Stokes delivered those words in several interviews following his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series against Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, the captain noted he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
But, following Crawley scored 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. We take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "weak men" comment subsequent to England suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.
The team subsequently went on a break to a Queensland resort between the second and third matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes said his team had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley stated the guidance from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their prior tenure in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do something special entering this game."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a notional target of 435 runs.
This means, Australia need just four more wickets on the last day to move to an unassailable 3-0 lead after three matches played.
Defeat would prolong the English team's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes series loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in just eleven days of play – after England fell the first two Tests in rapid time each.
Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disheartening," admitted the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it like that," he continued.
"It's been tough. They're a very, very good side. It was inevitably tough coming here to face them. They were the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."
Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's performance in the third Test likely secures doubts about his immediate future in the England team, Pope looks under threat for his position in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
Pope fell for 17 runs in the team's second knock on day four, adding to his modest returns versus the old enemy.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has never made a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
Only one other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
However, Crawley insisted any suggestion his teammate is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – referring to the journalists – "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 several excellent innings. It is noise from the outside. There's no chat like that regarding Pope in the camp," Crawley finished.
