The English opener Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments from captain Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".
The all-rounder made this message in several conversations following England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes versus the Australians previously.
Ahead of the third Test, where England now face defeat with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had allowed his message to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," remarked Stokes.
However, after Crawley made 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. We take everything that is said in the press with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "weak men" comment after his side suffered a loss in the second Test to go two matches behind.
The England squad subsequently took a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third Tests.
Before the Adelaide contest, he revealed his team had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to remain in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley stated the guidance from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their prior three years in charge.
"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday came during a crucial triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left England six down for 207 chasing a daunting target of 435 runs.
This means, Australia need just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an insurmountable three-nil advantage with three matches played.
Defeat will extend the English team's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in only eleven days of play – after England fell the first two Tests in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when Australia completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined more swiftly. The hosts have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," said Crawley. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we will certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been difficult. They're a formidable team. It was always going to be tough coming here against them. They were the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Position In Question
Although the opener's innings in Adelaide probably answers questions about his immediate future in the England team, Ollie Pope looks under threat for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in the team's second knock on day four, extending his modest returns versus 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 an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
However, Crawley said any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "the media" – referring to the press – "not inside the camp."
"We all know of his considerable talent," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is noise from the outside. There is no chat like that regarding Pope amongst the players," he finished.
