The English opener Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments made by captain Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".
The all-rounder made those words in multiple conversations in the wake of England's defeat in the second Ashes series versus the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had allowed his message to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I required," remarked the England leader.
However, following the opener scored 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching 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 subsequent to England were beaten in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.
The team afterwards took a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third matches.
Before this match, Stokes revealed his team had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain in contention in the series.
Yet, Crawley stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their prior tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," said Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we could do something special going into this Test."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's dismissal on day four was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left England 207-6 in pursuit of a notional total of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team require just four more wickets on the last day to move to an unassailable three-nil advantage with three matches played.
A loss would prolong the English team's winless run in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes series loss.
This series is set to be decided in only 11 days of play – with England losing the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disheartening," admitted Crawley. "We came here to regain the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel at this point."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we will certainly approach it like that," he continued.
"It's been difficult. They're a very, very good side. It was inevitably tough coming here to face them. They entered as the front-runners and they've proven why."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's performance in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his immediate future in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
Pope fell for 17 in England's second knock on Saturday, extending his poor record against the old enemy.
In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and averages 17.62.
A solitary other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
However, the opener insisted any notion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – referring to the press – "not inside the camp."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year to be frank."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is noise from the outside. There is no chat of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," he concluded.
