The English opening batter Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements made by skipper Stokes regarding the team environment not being "weak men".
The all-rounder made this message in multiple conversations following England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes against the Australians earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where England now face a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" within the playing group.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," said Stokes.
But, after 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 press with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "weak men" observation subsequent to England suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.
The team subsequently took a break to a Queensland resort between the second and third matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes said his team had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, Crawley asserted the messaging from the captain and coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior three years in leadership.
"It's 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 entering this Test."
The Hosts Close of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday came during a decisive triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a daunting target of 435 runs.
Consequently, Australia require just four more wickets on the last day to move to an unassailable three-nil advantage with three Tests.
A loss would prolong England's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series loss.
This series is set to be decided in just 11 days of play – after England losing the first two Tests in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been determined so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disheartening," admitted Crawley. "We came here to win the Ashes and we're facing elimination at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we will certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was always going to be tough coming here against them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's innings in Adelaide probably answers questions about his short-term future in the England team, Pope looks under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 runs in England's second innings on day four, adding to his poor record against Australia.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has failed to score 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 "you guys" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is noise from the outside. There's no discussion like that regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley finished.
