England opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements made by captain Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder made this message in multiple conversations following England's loss in the second match of the Ashes series versus Australia previously.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, the captain stated he had let his message to "circulate freely" among the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," said Stokes.
But, after the opener made 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 media with some skepticism," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "fragile individuals" observation subsequent to England suffered a loss in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards went on a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third matches.
Prior to this match, he said his players had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, Crawley stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach McCullum had remained in line with their prior three years in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat entering this game."
Australia Close of Rapid Ashes Triumph
The opener's wicket late on Saturday came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – left England six down for 207 chasing a daunting target of 435.
This means, Australia need just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an unassailable 3-0 lead with three Tests.
Defeat will extend England's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth successive away Ashes series defeat.
This series will be completed in only 11 days of play – with England fell the first two Tests in two and four days 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 eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"It's disheartening," said the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been tough. They're a formidable team. It was inevitably tough touring here against them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position In Question
While the opener's performance in the third Test probably answers questions about his short-term future in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 in the team's second knock on Saturday, extending his modest returns versus Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and averages just 17.62.
Only one other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
However, Crawley insisted any suggestion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."
"We all know of his considerable talent," said he. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. It is noise externally. There's no chat like that on Ollie amongst the players," he finished.
