The English opener Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments made by captain Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
Stokes delivered this message in several interviews in the wake of England's defeat in the second Ashes series against Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where England now face defeat with a match to spare, the captain noted he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" within the playing group.
"I've done the necessary discussions in recent days that I required," said the England leader.
However, following Crawley scored 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to England suffered a loss in Brisbane to go two matches behind.
The England squad subsequently went on a break to Noosa between the second and third Tests.
Prior to this match, Stokes said his players had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from the captain and head coach McCullum had remained consistent with their prior three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," noted Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's wicket on day four came during a decisive triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435.
This means, Australia need four wickets on the last day to secure an unassailable three-nil lead with three matches played.
Defeat would prolong the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth straight away Ashes series defeat.
This series will be completed in just eleven days of cricket – after England fell the initial matches in rapid time each.
The last time 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"It's disappointing," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. Australia is a very, very good side. It was inevitably tough coming here to face them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's innings in Adelaide probably answers questions about his immediate future in the side, Ollie Pope looks under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 runs in the team's second innings on Saturday, adding to his modest returns versus the old enemy.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and recorded a lower average.
However, the opener said any notion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is noise externally. There is no discussion like that regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley finished.