England opening batter Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments from skipper Stokes about the dressing room not being "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 series versus Australia previously.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where England now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes stated he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the playing group.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," said the England leader.
But, following the opener scored 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the media with some skepticism," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "weak men" comment subsequent to England were beaten in Brisbane to go two matches behind.
The England squad subsequently went on a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his team had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay in contention in the series.
Yet, Crawley stated the messaging from the captain and coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior three years in charge.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," noted the opener. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
The Hosts Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australian spinner Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a notional target of 435 runs.
This means, Australia need just four more wickets on the last day to secure an insurmountable three-nil advantage after three Tests.
A loss will extend the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes series loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in only 11 days of cricket – with England fell the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.
The last time 1921, when Australia completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"It's disappointing," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will definitely view it like that," he continued.
"The challenge has been difficult. They're a very, very good side. It was inevitably tough touring here to face them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's performance in the third Test probably answers questions about his short-term future 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 day four, extending his poor record versus the old enemy.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.
But, the opener said any notion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "you guys" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is noise externally. There's no chat of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," he concluded.
