The English opening batter Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments from skipper Stokes regarding the team environment not being "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered those words in several conversations in the wake of England's loss in the second Ashes series versus the Australians previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
However, after the opener made a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. We take anything stated in the press with some skepticism," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "weak men" observation subsequent to England suffered a loss in Brisbane to go two matches behind.
The England squad subsequently took a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, he said his players had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain alive in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, Crawley stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their previous tenure in leadership.
"It's been very positive, unchanged," said Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we were capable of something special entering this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal on day four came during a decisive triple-strike by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant England six down for 207 chasing a notional target of 435 runs.
This means, Australia require four wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an unassailable three-nil lead with three matches played.
Defeat would prolong England's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in only 11 days of play – after England fell the first two Tests in two and four days each.
Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll definitely view it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a very, very good side. It was always going to be hard coming here to face them. They were the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's innings in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his immediate place in the side, Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in the team's second knock on day four, extending his poor record against the old enemy.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and averages just 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and recorded a lower average.
But, Crawley insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is talk from the outside. There's no discussion of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," he finished.
