England opening batter Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of statements from captain Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
Stokes made those words in multiple interviews following his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes against Australia earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where England are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, Stokes stated he had let his message to "circulate freely" within the playing group.
"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I required," remarked Stokes.
However, following the opener scored 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "weak men" observation after his side were beaten in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards went on a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes said his players had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from the captain and head coach McCullum had remained in line with their prior tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat entering this game."
The Hosts Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's wicket on day four came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant England six down for 207 chasing a notional target of 435 runs.
Consequently, Australia need just four more wickets on the last day to secure an unassailable 3-0 lead after three Tests.
Defeat will extend the English team's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes loss.
This series is set to be decided in only eleven days of play – after England fell the first two Tests in rapid time each.
The last time 1921, when Australia completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. Australia is a formidable team. It was inevitably hard coming here against them. They were the favourites coming in to it they've proven why."
Pope's Place In Question
Although Crawley's performance in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his short-term place in the side, Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 in the team's second innings on day four, extending his poor record versus Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a half-century 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 recorded a lower average.
However, the opener insisted any notion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "the media" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is talk from the outside. There is no chat of that nature on Ollie in the camp," Crawley concluded.
