England opening batter Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments made by captain Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
Stokes made those words in several interviews in the wake of England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes against Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had let his sentiment 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 the England leader.
But, after Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
Stokes made the "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to his side were beaten in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The team subsequently went on a holiday to Noosa between the second and third Tests.
Before the Adelaide contest, he revealed his players had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, Crawley stated the guidance from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their prior three years in charge.
"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do something special entering this game."
Australia On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets 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.
Consequently, Australia require just four more wickets on the last day to move to an insurmountable three-nil advantage with three matches played.
A loss would prolong England's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth straight away Ashes loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in just 11 days of play – after England fell the initial matches in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when Australia sealed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"It's disheartening," admitted Crawley. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard coming here to face them. They were the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's performance in the third Test likely secures doubts about his short-term future in the side, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 runs in England's second innings on Saturday, adding to his modest returns against the old enemy.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a lower average.
However, the opener insisted any suggestion Pope is under the microscope comes from "the media" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."
"We all know of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is talk externally. There's no discussion like that on Ollie amongst the players," he concluded.
