England opener Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments from captain Stokes about the team environment not being "weak men".
Stokes made this message in multiple conversations following England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series against the Australians earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had let his message to "circulate freely" among the squad.
"I have completed all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
However, after Crawley made 85 on the fourth 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 press with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "fragile individuals" observation subsequent to his side suffered a loss in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently went on a holiday to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he revealed his team had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay alive in the Ashes battle.
Yet, the Kent batsman asserted the guidance from the captain and coach McCullum had stayed in line with their prior tenure in charge.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat going into this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday came during a crucial triple-strike by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant England six down for 207 chasing a notional target of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team require four wickets on the final day to move to an unassailable 3-0 advantage after three matches played.
A loss will extend the English team's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in just eleven days of cricket – after England losing the initial matches in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when Australia completed a series win in England in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been determined more swiftly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"It's disappointing," said the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a very, very good team. It was always going to be hard coming here against them. They entered as the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place In Question
Although the opener's performance in Adelaide probably answers questions about his immediate future in the side, Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
Pope fell for 17 in the team's second knock on Saturday, extending his modest returns against Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a fifty and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played as many times in the top six in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
But, Crawley said any notion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed 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.
