England opener Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of statements from captain Stokes regarding the team environment as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes made this message in multiple interviews in the wake of his team's defeat in the second Ashes series against Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" within the squad.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," said Stokes.
However, after Crawley made a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the press with some skepticism," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "weak men" comment subsequent to his side were beaten in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The team afterwards took a break to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his team had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to remain alive in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their prior three years in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat entering this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
The opener's wicket on day four came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left England six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional total of 435 runs.
This means, the home team need just four more wickets on the last day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 lead after three matches played.
Defeat would prolong the English team's drought in this country to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth straight overseas Ashes loss.
The current battle will be completed in just 11 days of play – with England losing the first two Tests in rapid time each.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"It's disheartening," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're facing elimination now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a formidable side. It was always going to be hard coming here against them. They were the front-runners and they've proven why."
Pope's Position In Question
Although Crawley's performance in the third Test probably answers doubts about his short-term future in the England team, Pope looks under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 runs in England's second innings on day four, extending his modest returns against the old enemy.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and averages 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
But, Crawley said any notion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – meaning the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added Crawley. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has produced several excellent innings. It is noise from the outside. There's no discussion of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," Crawley concluded.
