England opener Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments made by skipper Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered this message in multiple conversations in the wake of England's defeat in the second Ashes series versus the Australians earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face a series loss with a match to spare, the captain stated he had let his sentiment to "drift around" within the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
However, after Crawley 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. We take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
Stokes made the "weak men" comment after his side were beaten in Brisbane to go two matches behind.
The team subsequently took a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before the Adelaide contest, he said his team had held "raw" conversations and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," noted Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat going into this Test."
The Hosts Close of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday was part of a crucial three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a notional target of 435 runs.
This means, the home team need just four more wickets on the final day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 lead after three matches played.
A loss would prolong England's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in only eleven days of play – after England fell the first two Tests in rapid time each.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," admitted the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and we're facing elimination at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. Australia is a very, very good side. It was always going to be hard coming here against them. They were the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's performance in the third Test likely secures questions about his immediate place in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in the team's second innings on Saturday, extending his modest returns against the old enemy.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
But, Crawley insisted any suggestion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," added he. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. It is talk externally. There's no chat like that on Ollie in the camp," he finished.
