England opener Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of statements from captain Stokes about the team environment not being "weak men".
Stokes delivered those words in several conversations following England's loss in the second Ashes against the Australians earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" within the playing group.
"I've done the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
However, after the opener scored 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to England suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.
The team subsequently took a holiday to Noosa in the gap between the second and third matches.
Prior to this match, he said his players had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, Crawley stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their previous tenure in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. It felt like we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
The opener's dismissal on day four was part of a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – left England six down for 207 chasing a daunting target of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team require just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an insurmountable three-nil lead after three Tests.
Defeat would prolong England's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in only 11 days of cricket – after England losing the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," admitted the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it like that," he continued.
"The challenge has been difficult. Australia is a formidable team. It was inevitably tough coming here to face them. They were the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's performance in Adelaide probably answers questions about his short-term future in the England team, Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 runs in England's second innings on Saturday, adding to his modest returns versus Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a fifty and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
But, the opener said any suggestion his teammate is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," added he. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has produced several excellent innings. This is talk externally. There's no discussion like that regarding Pope in the camp," Crawley concluded.
