England opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with statements from captain Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered this message in multiple conversations in the wake of England's defeat in the second Ashes against Australia previously.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had let his message to "circulate freely" among the squad.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," said Stokes.
But, after Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the fourth 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 some skepticism," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "weak men" comment subsequent to his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards went on a holiday to Noosa in the gap between the second and third Tests.
Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his players had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to remain alive in the series.
Yet, Crawley asserted the guidance from Stokes and coach McCullum had stayed in line with their prior three years in charge.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australian spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – left England six down for 207 chasing a notional total of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team require four wickets on the final day to move to an unassailable three-nil lead 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 successive away Ashes series loss.
This series will be completed in only 11 days of cricket – with England losing the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in the UK 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," said the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we will certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"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."
Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's performance in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his immediate place in the side, Pope appears under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 runs in the team's second knock on Saturday, extending his modest returns against the old enemy.
In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a fifty and averages 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
However, Crawley insisted any notion Pope is under the microscope originates with "you guys" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played several excellent innings. It is noise from the outside. There's no chat like that regarding Pope amongst the players," he concluded.
