England opener Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments made by skipper Ben Stokes about the dressing room not being "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes made this message in multiple interviews in the wake of England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes versus Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where England are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had allowed his message to "drift around" among the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
However, after Crawley scored 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the media with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "weak men" comment after England suffered a loss in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards took a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before this match, he revealed his players had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their prior tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of something special entering this game."
Australia On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's wicket on day four was part of a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – left England six down for 207 chasing a notional total of 435.
This means, Australia need four wickets on Sunday's final day to secure an unassailable three-nil advantage after three Tests.
Defeat will extend England's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth straight away Ashes series defeat.
This series is set to be decided in only 11 days of play – with England fell the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been determined more swiftly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disheartening," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard coming here against them. They entered as the front-runners and they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
While Crawley's innings in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his immediate future in the side, Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 in England's second knock on Saturday, extending his poor record against Australia.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and averages just 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has played as many times in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
But, the opener said any suggestion Pope is being scrutinised originates with "you guys" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."
"We all know of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year to be frank."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is talk from the outside. There is no discussion of that nature on Ollie in the camp," he finished.
