England opener Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments from captain Ben Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered those words in multiple conversations in the wake of England's loss in the second match of the Ashes series versus Australia earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, the captain noted he had let his message to "circulate freely" among the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," said Stokes.
But, after Crawley scored 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "weak men" comment subsequent to England were beaten in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The team subsequently took a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, he revealed his team had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay alive in the series.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their previous tenure in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted the opener. "It's just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with great liberty. It felt like we were capable of something special going into this Test."
Australia On the Verge of Rapid Ashes Triumph
The opener's wicket on day four came during a decisive triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant England 207-6 in pursuit of a notional target of 435 runs.
This means, the home team need just four more wickets on the final day to move to an unassailable three-nil lead with three Tests.
A loss will extend the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes loss.
This series is set to be decided in just eleven days of play – with England fell the initial matches in rapid time respectively.
The last time 1921, when Australia completed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also won in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," admitted Crawley. "We came here to regain the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will definitely view it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably tough coming here against them. They entered as the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's performance in the third Test probably answers doubts about his immediate future in the England team, Pope appears under threat for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 in England's second knock on day four, adding to his poor record against Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a half-century and boasts an average of just 17.62.
A solitary other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
However, the opener said any suggestion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," added he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year if I'm honest."
"He has produced some really good knocks. It is noise from the outside. There is no chat like that on Ollie in the camp," he concluded.
