England opener Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments from skipper Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered this message in several conversations following his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes series against the Australians previously.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes stated he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" among the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," said the England leader.
However, after Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "fragile individuals" observation after England were beaten in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.
The team afterwards took a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes said his players had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to remain alive in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach McCullum had stayed in line with their previous three years in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted the opener. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do something special going into this Test."
Australia On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's wicket on day four came during a decisive triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a notional total of 435 runs.
This means, Australia require just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an unassailable 3-0 advantage with three Tests.
Defeat would prolong England's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth straight away Ashes series defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in just eleven days of play – with England losing the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.
"It's disappointing," admitted Crawley. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."
"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 inevitably tough coming here against them. They were the favourites and they've proven why."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's performance in Adelaide probably answers questions about his short-term future in the England team, Pope appears under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in England's second innings on day four, extending his modest returns versus Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and averages 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.
However, Crawley said any suggestion his teammate 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," added he. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has produced several excellent innings. This is talk from the outside. There's no chat of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley finished.
