England opener Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments made by captain Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered this message in multiple interviews in the wake of his team's loss in the second Ashes series versus the Australians previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had let his message to "circulate freely" within the playing group.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
But, after Crawley made a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "weak men" observation after England were beaten in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The team subsequently took a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he revealed his players had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior tenure in charge.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," said Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we could do something special entering this game."
The Hosts Close of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a daunting total of 435 runs.
This means, the home team require just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 advantage with three matches played.
A loss will extend the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth successive overseas Ashes series defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in just 11 days of play – with England losing the first two Tests in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined so quickly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," admitted the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel now."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been difficult. Australia is a formidable side. It was inevitably hard coming here to face them. They entered as the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position In Question
While the opener's innings in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his short-term future in the England team, Pope looks under threat for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in England's second knock on day four, extending his modest returns versus Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a fifty and averages 17.62.
A solitary other England player in over a century – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
But, Crawley said any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – referring to the press – "not inside the camp."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is noise externally. There's no chat like that on Ollie in the camp," Crawley finished.
