The English opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments from skipper Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
Stokes delivered this message in multiple conversations following his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes series versus Australia previously.
Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors now face a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had let his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I have completed all the talking over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
However, after the opener made a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the press with some skepticism," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "fragile individuals" observation after England suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards went on a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and third Tests.
Before the Adelaide contest, he revealed his team had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the guidance from Stokes and coach McCullum had remained in line with their previous three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do something special going into this Test."
Australia Close of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday came during a decisive triple-strike by Australia spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Stokes himself – left England 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team require four wickets on the last day to move to an unassailable three-nil advantage with three Tests.
Defeat would prolong England's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth successive overseas Ashes loss.
This series will be completed in just eleven days of play – after England fell the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been determined so quickly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"It's disheartening," admitted Crawley. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a formidable team. It was inevitably hard coming here to face them. They entered as the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's performance in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his short-term future in the England team, Pope looks under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in England's second innings on day four, extending his modest returns against the old enemy.
In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and recorded a poorer average.
However, the opener said any notion Pope is being scrutinised originates with "you guys" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," added he. "He has had a productive year to be frank."
"He has produced several excellent innings. This is noise from the outside. There is no chat of that nature on Ollie in the camp," Crawley finished.
