The English opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with statements from captain Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".
Stokes delivered those words in several interviews following England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes versus the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where England now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the playing group.
"I have completed all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
But, after the opener made a knock of 85 on the fourth 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 a pinch of salt," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "weak men" comment subsequent to England suffered a loss in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The team afterwards took a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and third matches.
Prior to this match, Stokes said his team had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay alive in the series.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from the captain and coach McCullum had stayed in line with their prior three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat entering this game."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal on day four came during a crucial triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team need four wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an unassailable 3-0 lead with three matches played.
Defeat will extend England's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes loss.
The current battle will be completed in just 11 days of cricket – after England fell the initial matches in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"It's disheartening," admitted the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a formidable side. It was inevitably tough touring here to face them. They were the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place In Question
Although Crawley's innings in Adelaide probably answers questions about his immediate place in the side, Ollie Pope looks under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 in England's second innings on Saturday, adding to his poor record versus the old enemy.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and averages just 17.62.
Only one other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and recorded a lower average.
However, the opener insisted any suggestion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – referring to the press – "not inside the camp."
"We all know of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. It is talk from the outside. There's no chat of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley finished.
