England opener Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with statements made by captain Stokes about the team environment not being "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered those words in multiple interviews following England's loss in the second match of the Ashes versus the Australians earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where England are staring at defeat with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had let his sentiment to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," said Stokes.
However, after the opener scored 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the press with some skepticism," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "fragile individuals" observation subsequent to his side suffered a loss in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards took a holiday to Noosa between the second and third matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, he revealed his team had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, Crawley stated the guidance from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their previous tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," noted Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat entering this game."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday came during a crucial triple-strike by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a daunting total of 435.
This means, Australia require four wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an unassailable 3-0 advantage with three matches played.
A loss will extend the English team's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes defeat.
This series is set to be decided in only 11 days of play – after England losing the initial matches in rapid time each.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it like that," he continued.
"The challenge has been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard touring here to face them. They entered as the favourites coming in to it they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
While the opener's performance in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his short-term place in the England team, Ollie Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 runs in England's second innings on day four, extending his poor record versus the old enemy.
In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.
A solitary other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
But, Crawley said any suggestion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year to be frank."
"He has produced several excellent innings. It is noise externally. There's no chat of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," he concluded.
