The English opening batter Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments made by skipper Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered those words in multiple conversations following England's loss in the second match of the Ashes series against Australia earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" within the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
But, following Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to England suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards took a break to a Queensland resort between the second and third matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he revealed his players had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, Crawley stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach McCullum had remained in line with their prior tenure in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we were capable of something special entering this game."
The Hosts Close of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal on day four came during a crucial triple-strike by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of 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 move to an unassailable 3-0 advantage after three matches played.
Defeat will extend England's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes series loss.
This series will be completed 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 sealed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been determined so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," said the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," he continued.
"The challenge has been tough. They're a formidable team. It was always going to be hard coming here to face them. They were the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While the opener's performance in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his immediate place in the side, Pope appears under threat for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 runs in England's second innings on day four, adding to his poor record versus Australia.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and averages 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and recorded a lower average.
But, Crawley insisted any notion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "the media" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added he. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. It is talk externally. There is no discussion like that regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
