England opener Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments made by captain Ben Stokes about the team environment as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder made those words in multiple conversations in the wake of England's loss in the second Ashes against Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had let his message to "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I required," said Stokes.
However, after Crawley made a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "weak men" comment subsequent to England were beaten in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The team afterwards took a break to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before the Adelaide contest, he revealed his players had held "raw" conversations and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay alive in the Ashes battle.
Yet, Crawley asserted the messaging from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their prior tenure in charge.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," noted the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with great liberty. It felt like we were capable of an extraordinary feat entering this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left England six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional target of 435.
This means, Australia require just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an unassailable three-nil advantage with three Tests.
Defeat will extend the English team's winless run in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes loss.
This series will be completed in only 11 days of play – with England losing the initial matches in rapid time respectively.
The last time 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"It's disappointing," said the batsman. "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'll certainly approach it like that," he continued.
"The challenge has been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably tough coming here to face them. They entered as the favourites coming in to it they've proven why."
Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While the opener's performance in Adelaide probably answers questions about his immediate place in the England team, Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 in the team's second innings on day four, adding to his modest returns against Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has never made a fifty and averages 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has featured as many times in the top six in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
But, Crawley insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is talk from the outside. There's no chat like that on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
