The English opener Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of statements from captain Stokes about the team environment not being "weak men".
Stokes made this message in several conversations following his team's loss in the second Ashes versus Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors now face defeat with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" within the squad.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I required," said the England leader.
However, after the opener made 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 press with a pinch of salt," he added.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
Stokes made the "weak men" observation subsequent to England suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.
The team subsequently took a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to this match, Stokes revealed his team had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay alive in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from Stokes and coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their previous tenure in charge.
"It's been very positive, unchanged," noted the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we were capable of something special going into this Test."
Australia On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
The opener's wicket late on Saturday came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a daunting total of 435.
This means, Australia require just four more wickets on the final day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 advantage after three Tests.
A loss will extend the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes defeat.
The current battle will be completed in just 11 days of cricket – after England fell the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"It's disappointing," admitted the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a very, very good team. It was inevitably tough touring here to face them. They entered as the front-runners and they've proven why."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's performance in the third Test probably answers doubts about his immediate future in the England team, Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
Pope was out for 17 runs in England's second innings on day four, adding to his poor record versus the old enemy.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has never made a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
However, Crawley insisted any suggestion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," added he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played several excellent innings. It is noise externally. There's no chat like that on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley finished.
