The English opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements made by captain Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder made this message in several conversations in the wake of England's defeat in the second Ashes versus the Australians earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I required," said Stokes.
However, after Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "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," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "weak men" comment subsequent to his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to go two matches behind.
The team subsequently took a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and third matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he said his players had held "raw" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay alive in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from Stokes and coach McCullum had remained in line with their prior three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat entering this game."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday came during a decisive triple-strike by Australia spinner Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant England 207-6 chasing a daunting target of 435.
This means, Australia need just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an unassailable three-nil advantage after three Tests.
Defeat would prolong the English team's winless run in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes series loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in only eleven days of cricket – after England fell the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disheartening," said Crawley. "We came here to regain the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel 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. They're a very, very good side. It was always going to be hard coming here to face them. They were the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's performance in the third Test probably answers doubts about his short-term place in the England team, Ollie Pope looks under threat for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 in England's second knock on day four, extending his modest returns versus Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has never made a fifty and averages 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
But, the opener said any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – referring to the press – "not inside the camp."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added he. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. It is talk externally. There is no discussion like that regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley finished.
