The English opener Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments made by captain Stokes about the team environment not being "weak men".
Stokes delivered this message in several interviews in the wake of England's loss in the second Ashes series against Australia previously.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated 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 required," remarked Stokes.
However, following Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with some skepticism," he added.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
Stokes issued his "weak men" comment subsequent to England suffered a loss in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards went on a holiday to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes 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 Ashes battle.
Yet, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from the captain and head coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior tenure in charge.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted the opener. "It's just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat going into this Test."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
The opener's wicket on day four came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Ben Stokes – meant England six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435 runs.
This means, Australia need four wickets on the final day to secure an unassailable 3-0 lead with three Tests.
Defeat would prolong the English team's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in just 11 days of play – with England losing the initial matches in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when Australia completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disheartening," said the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a formidable side. It was inevitably hard touring here to face them. They entered as 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 probably answers questions about his short-term place in the England team, Pope appears under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
Pope fell for 17 in England's second innings on day four, adding to his poor record against Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has played as many times in the top six in the Ashes and recorded a lower average.
However, Crawley said any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has produced several excellent innings. It is talk externally. There is no discussion like that regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
