England opener Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments from captain Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered this message in several interviews following England's loss in the second Ashes against the Australians earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where England now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" among the squad.
"I have completed all the talking in recent days that I required," said the England leader.
However, following Crawley made a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "fragile individuals" observation subsequent to England suffered a loss in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The team afterwards went on a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third Tests.
Before this match, Stokes said his team had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from Stokes and coach McCullum had stayed in line with their previous three years in charge.
"It's been very positive, unchanged," noted the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. It felt like we were capable of something special going into this Test."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal on day four was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a notional target of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team require just four more wickets on Sunday's final day to secure an unassailable 3-0 advantage after three matches played.
Defeat will extend England's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes loss.
This series is set to be decided in only eleven days of cricket – with England fell the first two Tests in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"It's disappointing," said Crawley. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a very, very good team. It was inevitably tough coming here against them. They were the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
Although Crawley's performance in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his short-term place in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in England's second innings on day four, extending his poor record against the old enemy.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and averages just 17.62.
Only one other England player in over a century – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.
But, Crawley said any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope originates with "you guys" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said he. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is noise from the outside. There's no discussion like that regarding Pope in the camp," he concluded.
