The English opener Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with statements made by captain Stokes about the team environment not being "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered this message in several interviews in the wake of England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes against Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at defeat with a match to spare, the captain stated he had let his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," remarked Stokes.
But, following the opener 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," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "weak men" observation after England were beaten in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The team afterwards took a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Prior to this match, Stokes revealed his team had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, Crawley stated the guidance from the captain and coach McCullum had stayed in line with their previous three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a notional total of 435 runs.
Consequently, Australia need just four more wickets on the last day to secure an insurmountable three-nil advantage with three Tests.
A loss will extend England's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series loss.
This series will be completed in only 11 days of cricket – with England fell the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was always going to be hard coming here against them. They entered as the favourites coming in to it they've proven why."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's performance in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his short-term place in the England team, Pope appears under threat for his position in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in the team's second innings on Saturday, adding to his modest returns versus Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and averages 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
But, the opener insisted any suggestion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said he. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is noise externally. There is no chat of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," Crawley finished.
