The English opener Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of statements made by captain Stokes about the team environment as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder made those words in multiple conversations following his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes against the Australians previously.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had allowed his message to "drift around" among the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
However, after the opener scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "weak men" comment subsequent to his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards went on a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before the Adelaide contest, he revealed his players had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their prior three years in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday came during a decisive triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a notional total of 435.
Consequently, the home team require four wickets on the last day to secure an insurmountable three-nil advantage with three Tests.
Defeat will extend England's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes series loss.
The current battle will be completed in only 11 days of play – after England fell the first two Tests in two and four days each.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been determined so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," admitted the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we will definitely view it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been difficult. They're a formidable team. It was always going to be hard touring here against them. They entered as the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Position In Question
Although the opener's performance in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his short-term place in the England team, Ollie Pope looks under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in the team's second innings on day four, extending his poor record against Australia.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
However, the opener insisted any notion his teammate is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – referring to the press – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is talk from the outside. There's no chat like that regarding Pope in the camp," he concluded.
