England opening batter Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with statements from captain Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder made those words in several interviews following his team's defeat in the second Ashes series versus Australia previously.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where England are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes stated he had let his sentiment to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I required," said Stokes.
But, after the opener scored 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"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 a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "fragile individuals" observation subsequent to his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to go two matches behind.
The England squad subsequently went on a holiday to Noosa between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Prior to this match, he revealed his players had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, Crawley stated the guidance from Stokes and head coach McCullum had stayed in line with their previous tenure in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat entering this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's wicket on day four came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435 runs.
This means, the home team require just four more wickets on the last day to secure an insurmountable three-nil lead with three Tests.
Defeat would prolong the English team's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series loss.
The current battle will be completed in just eleven days of cricket – with England losing the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined more swiftly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," admitted Crawley. "We came here to win the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel at this point."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we will definitely view it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been difficult. They're a formidable side. 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."
Pope's Place In Question
Although Crawley's performance in the third Test probably answers questions about his short-term future in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 in England's second innings on Saturday, adding to his modest returns against Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and averages 17.62.
A solitary other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
But, the opener said any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – referring to 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 productive year if I'm honest."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is noise from the outside. There's no discussion like that on Ollie in the camp," Crawley concluded.
