The English opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of statements made by captain Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "weak men".
The all-rounder made those words in multiple interviews following England's loss in the second match of the Ashes versus Australia previously.
In the lead-up to 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 "drift around" among the squad.
"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I required," remarked the England leader.
However, after Crawley made 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. We take everything that is said in the press with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
The captain issued his "weak men" comment subsequent to England suffered a loss in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The team subsequently took a break to a Queensland resort between the second and third matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he revealed his team had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay alive in the Ashes battle.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from Stokes and head coach McCullum had stayed in line with their previous tenure in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat going into this Test."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Ben Stokes – left England 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435.
Consequently, the home team need just four more wickets on the last day to move to an unassailable three-nil lead with three Tests.
A loss would prolong England's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes series defeat.
This series is set to be decided in just 11 days of play – after England fell the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.
The last time 1921, when Australia completed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," said Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been difficult. They're a very, very good team. It was always going to be hard coming here to face them. They were the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's performance in the third Test likely secures questions about his immediate place in the England team, 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 day four, extending his modest returns versus the old enemy.
In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and averages just 17.62.
Only one other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
However, the opener insisted any notion Pope is under the microscope comes from "the media" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year to be frank."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is noise from the outside. There is no chat like that regarding Pope amongst the players," he finished.
