England opening batter Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments made by captain Ben Stokes about the team environment not being "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered this message in several conversations following England's loss in the second Ashes series versus the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," remarked Stokes.
But, after Crawley scored 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain issued his "weak men" observation after England suffered a loss in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The team afterwards went on a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his team had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the guidance from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their prior tenure in charge.
"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we were capable of an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
Australia Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's dismissal on day four came during a crucial triple-strike by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side 207-6 chasing a daunting total of 435.
Consequently, the home team need just four more wickets on the final day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 lead with three Tests.
Defeat will extend the English team's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth successive away Ashes series defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in just eleven days of cricket – after England losing the first two Tests in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been determined more swiftly. The hosts have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," admitted the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we will definitely view it like that," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been difficult. They're a formidable team. It was always going to be hard coming here to face them. They entered as the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While the opener's performance in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his immediate place in the side, Ollie Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in the team's second innings on day four, extending his poor record versus Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a fifty and averages 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
However, the opener said any suggestion Pope is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – referring to the press – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has produced several excellent innings. This is noise externally. There's no chat like that regarding Pope amongst the players," he finished.
