England opening batter Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments from captain Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes made those words in several interviews following England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes against the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face defeat with a match to spare, the captain stated he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" within the squad.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I required," remarked Stokes.
However, after Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take everything that is said in the media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "fragile individuals" comment after his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently took a break to a Queensland resort between the second and third matches.
Before this match, Stokes revealed his players had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to remain alive in the Ashes battle.
Yet, the Kent batsman asserted the guidance from Stokes and head coach McCullum had remained in line with their prior three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with great liberty. It felt like we were capable of something special entering this Test."
Australia On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435 runs.
This means, Australia require four wickets on the last day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 lead after three matches played.
A loss will extend England's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes series defeat.
This series will be completed in just 11 days of cricket – with England losing the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"It's disappointing," said Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we will certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"The challenge has been tough. They're a formidable team. It was inevitably hard coming here to face them. They were the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place In Question
Although the opener's innings in the third Test probably answers doubts about his immediate place in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under threat for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in the team's second innings on Saturday, extending his modest returns versus Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a fifty and averages just 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top six in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
But, the opener insisted any suggestion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said he. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is noise from the outside. There is no chat like that regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
