England opening batter Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments made by captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered those words in several interviews in the wake of his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes against Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where England are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
However, following the opener made 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 press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "weak men" comment after England suffered a loss in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently went on a holiday to Noosa between the second and the upcoming matches.
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 series.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the messaging from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," said the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this game."
Australia On the Verge of Rapid Ashes Triumph
The opener's wicket late on Saturday was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australian spinner Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left England six down for 207 chasing a daunting target of 435.
This means, the home team require four wickets on the last day to secure an unassailable three-nil advantage with three matches played.
A loss will extend England's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes series loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in only eleven days of play – after England losing the initial matches in two and four days each.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.
"It's disheartening," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a formidable side. It was always going to be hard coming here to face them. They were the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's performance in the third Test likely secures questions about his immediate place in the side, Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 in the team's second innings on day four, adding to his modest returns versus Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.
Only one other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
But, the opener said any suggestion Pope is under the microscope comes from "the media" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is noise from the outside. There's no discussion of that nature on Ollie in the camp," he finished.
