The English opener Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with statements made by skipper Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".
The all-rounder made this message in multiple conversations following England's loss in the second match of the Ashes series versus the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, the captain stated he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" among the squad.
"I have completed all the talking over the past two days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
However, after the opener made a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "weak men" observation after England suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.
The team afterwards went on a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third Tests.
Prior to this match, Stokes revealed his players had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, Crawley stated the guidance from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their prior three years in charge.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we were capable of something special entering this Test."
Australia On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
The opener's wicket late on Saturday was part of a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left England six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435 runs.
This means, the home team need four wickets on the last day to move to an insurmountable three-nil advantage after three Tests.
A loss would prolong England's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series defeat.
This series will be completed in just 11 days of play – after England losing the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," admitted 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 will certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a formidable team. It was always going to be hard coming here against them. They entered as the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position In Question
Although Crawley's performance in Adelaide probably answers questions about his short-term place in the side, Pope looks under threat for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 in England's second innings on day four, adding to his modest returns against Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
However, Crawley insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," added he. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year to be frank."
"He has produced several excellent innings. It is noise from the outside. There's no chat of that nature regarding Pope amongst the players," he finished.
