England opener Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments made by captain Ben Stokes about the team environment not being "weak men".
Stokes delivered those words in multiple interviews in the wake of England's defeat in the second Ashes against the Australians previously.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England now face a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had let his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
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. We take anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "fragile individuals" comment after England were beaten in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards took a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before this match, Stokes said his players had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain alive in the series.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their previous three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," said the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, 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 dismissal late on Saturday came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant England 207-6 in pursuit of a notional total of 435 runs.
This means, Australia need just four more wickets on the last day to move to an insurmountable three-nil lead with three Tests.
Defeat would prolong England's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes series loss.
This series will be completed in just 11 days of play – with England losing the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," said the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a very, very good side. It was always going to be hard touring here to face them. They were the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While the opener's performance in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his immediate place in the England team, Pope looks under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in England's second knock on day four, adding to his poor record against the old enemy.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a half-century and averages just 17.62.
Only one other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a lower average.
However, Crawley said any suggestion Pope is under the microscope comes from "you guys" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "He has had a productive year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is noise externally. There's no chat of that nature regarding Pope amongst the players," he finished.
