The English opening batter Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments from captain Stokes regarding the team environment as no place for "weak men".
Stokes delivered those words in several conversations following England's loss in the second match of the Ashes series against Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," said the England leader.
However, after Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he commented: "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 some skepticism," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "weak men" comment after his side were beaten in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The England squad subsequently took a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, he revealed his team had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain alive in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the guidance from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their previous tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," noted Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. It felt like we could do something special entering this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australia spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a daunting total of 435.
This means, the home team need just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an insurmountable three-nil advantage with three matches played.
A loss would prolong the English team's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth straight away Ashes defeat.
This series will be completed in only 11 days of play – after England losing the first two Tests in rapid time each.
The last time 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in England 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 modern era.
"This is disappointing," admitted Crawley. "We came here to win the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel now."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. Australia is a very, very good team. It was inevitably tough coming here against them. They entered as the front-runners and they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
While Crawley's performance in Adelaide probably answers questions about his immediate future in the England team, Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in England's second knock on Saturday, extending his poor record versus the old enemy.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a half-century and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
However, Crawley said any suggestion his teammate is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added Crawley. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is talk externally. There is no chat like that regarding Pope amongst the players," he concluded.
