The English opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments from captain Stokes about the dressing room not being "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder made this message in several conversations in the wake of his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes versus the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where England now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, Stokes stated he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the squad.
"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I required," remarked Stokes.
But, after Crawley scored 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"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 Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "weak men" observation after his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently took a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, he said his players had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, Crawley stated the messaging from the captain and coach McCullum had remained consistent with their prior three years in leadership.
"It's been very positive, the same as always," said the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with great liberty. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat going into this game."
Australia On the Verge of Rapid Ashes Triumph
Crawley's dismissal on day four came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant England six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional target of 435.
This means, the home team require just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an insurmountable three-nil advantage with three matches played.
A loss will extend England's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes defeat.
This series will be completed in just eleven days of play – with England losing the first two Tests in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when Australia completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," said the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we will definitely view it with that mindset," he continued.
"The challenge has been difficult. They're a very, very good team. It was always going to be hard coming here against them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's performance in the third Test probably answers doubts about his short-term future in the side, Pope looks under threat for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 in the team's second knock on Saturday, adding to his poor record versus the old enemy.
In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has never made a fifty and averages 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.
However, the opener said any notion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year to be frank."
"He has played several excellent innings. It is talk externally. There's no chat of that nature regarding Pope amongst the players," he concluded.
