The English opener Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments from captain Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered this message in multiple conversations following his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes versus the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had let his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the playing group.
"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
However, after the opener scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take everything that is said in the media with some skepticism," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "weak men" observation subsequent to his side suffered a loss in the second Test to go two matches behind.
The team subsequently took a break to Noosa between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before this match, Stokes said his players had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay alive in the Ashes battle.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from the captain and coach McCullum had stayed in line with their prior tenure in leadership.
"It's been very positive, unchanged," said Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. It felt like we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant England 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435.
Consequently, Australia require four wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 lead with three Tests.
Defeat will extend the English team's winless run in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes series loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in just eleven days of play – after England fell the initial matches in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," said Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're facing elimination now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it like that," he continued.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a formidable side. It was inevitably hard touring here to face them. They entered as the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
Although the opener's performance in the third Test likely secures questions about his short-term future in the side, Pope looks under threat for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in the team's second knock on Saturday, extending his poor record against Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
However, the opener said any notion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – meaning the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," added he. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is talk from the outside. There is no chat of that nature on Ollie in the camp," Crawley finished.
