England opener Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of statements made by skipper Stokes regarding the team environment not being "weak men".
Stokes delivered those words in multiple conversations in the wake of his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes against Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had let his message to "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," said Stokes.
However, following Crawley scored 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. We take everything that is said in the press with some skepticism," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "weak men" comment subsequent to England suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.
The team afterwards went on a break to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his team had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to remain alive in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the guidance from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their previous tenure in leadership.
"It's been very positive, unchanged," noted the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat entering this game."
The Hosts Close of Historic Series Victory
The opener's dismissal on day four came during a crucial triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left England six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435 runs.
This means, the home team require just four more wickets on the last day to move to an unassailable three-nil advantage with three Tests.
A loss would prolong the English team's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth straight away Ashes series defeat.
This series will be completed in just eleven days of cricket – after England losing the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," said Crawley. "We came here to win the Ashes and we're facing elimination at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll definitely view it like that," he continued.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a formidable team. It was inevitably tough coming here against them. They were the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Position In Question
While Crawley's innings in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his short-term place in the side, Pope looks under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 in England's second innings on Saturday, extending his poor record versus Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and averages just 17.62.
Only one other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
But, Crawley said any notion Pope is under the microscope comes from "the media" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "He has had a productive year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. It is noise externally. There is no discussion of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," he concluded.
