England opener Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments from captain Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".
Stokes delivered those words in several interviews in the wake of his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes versus Australia previously.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, the captain stated he had let his sentiment to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," said the England leader.
But, after the opener made a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to England were beaten in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The team afterwards took a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his team had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the messaging from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior three years in leadership.
"It's been very positive, the same as always," said the opener. "It's just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of something special going into this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's dismissal on day four came during a crucial triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435.
Consequently, the home team require four wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an unassailable three-nil lead after three Tests.
Defeat will extend the English team's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes series loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in only eleven days of cricket – after England losing the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided so quickly. The hosts have also won in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disheartening," said Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been tough. Australia is a formidable team. It was always going to be hard coming here to face them. They entered as the favourites and they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While the opener's innings in the third Test probably answers questions about his immediate future in the England team, Pope looks under threat for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in the team's second innings on day four, adding to his poor record versus Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and averages just 17.62.
Only one other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.
However, Crawley insisted any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope originates with "you guys" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has produced some really good knocks. It is noise externally. There's no discussion of that nature on Ollie in the camp," he finished.
