England opener Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments from captain Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder made those words in several conversations in the wake of England's loss in the second match of the Ashes against the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where England are staring at defeat with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had let his message to "drift around" within the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
However, after Crawley made a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. We take everything that is said in the press with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain issued his "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to go two matches behind.
The team subsequently went on a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before this match, he said his team had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, Crawley asserted the guidance from Stokes and coach McCullum had stayed in line with their prior three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," noted Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with great liberty. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat going into this game."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435.
Consequently, the home team require just four more wickets on the last day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 lead with three Tests.
Defeat will extend 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 will be completed in only 11 days of play – with England fell the first two Tests in rapid time each.
Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," said Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're facing elimination at this point."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a formidable team. It was always going to be tough touring here to face them. They entered as the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
While Crawley's performance in the third Test probably answers doubts about his short-term future in the side, Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in England's second innings on day four, adding to his modest returns versus Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and averages 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, the opener insisted any suggestion his teammate is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," added he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is talk externally. There's no chat of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley finished.
