The English opener Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments made by skipper Stokes regarding the team environment not being "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes made those words in several conversations in the wake of England's defeat in the second Ashes series against Australia previously.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes stated he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" among the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I required," remarked the England leader.
However, after Crawley made a knock of 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the press with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "fragile individuals" observation subsequent to England suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.
The team afterwards took a break to Noosa between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he said his team had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain alive in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, Crawley stated the messaging from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their previous three years in leadership.
"It's been very positive, the same as always," noted the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with great liberty. It felt like we were capable of an extraordinary feat entering this game."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a daunting target of 435.
This means, Australia require four wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an unassailable three-nil lead with three matches played.
Defeat will extend the English team's drought in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes series defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in only 11 days of cricket – with England fell the initial matches in rapid time each.
The last time 1921, when Australia sealed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disheartening," said the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and we're facing elimination at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll definitely view it like that," he continued.
"The challenge has been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably tough touring here against them. They entered as the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's performance in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his immediate future in the England team, Pope appears under immense pressure 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 poor record against the old enemy.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in the Ashes and recorded a poorer average.
However, Crawley insisted any notion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said he. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is noise externally. There's no chat of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley finished.
