The English opener Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of statements made by skipper Ben Stokes about the team environment not being "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered those words in multiple conversations following his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes against Australia earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
However, following Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take everything that is said in the media with a pinch of salt," he added.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
The captain issued his "weak men" observation after his side were beaten in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The team subsequently took a break to a Queensland resort between the second and third Tests.
Prior to this match, Stokes said his team had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay alive in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley stated the guidance from Stokes and head coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their previous tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," noted the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat entering this game."
Australia Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's wicket on day four came during a decisive triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left England six down for 207 chasing a notional target of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team need just four more wickets on Sunday's 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 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes loss.
The current battle will be completed in only eleven days of cricket – after England losing the first two Tests in rapid time each.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"It's disheartening," admitted the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we will definitely view it like that," he continued.
"It's been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard coming here against them. They entered as the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's innings in Adelaide probably answers questions about his short-term place in the England team, Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in the team's second innings on Saturday, extending his modest returns versus the old enemy.
In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
However, the opener insisted any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "the media" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is noise externally. There's no chat of that nature on Ollie in the camp," he concluded.
