The English opener Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of statements made by captain Ben Stokes about the team environment not being "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder delivered those words in multiple conversations in the wake of England's defeat in the second Ashes against Australia previously.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England now face a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had let his message to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I required," said Stokes.
However, after the opener scored 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the press with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "weak men" observation after his side were beaten in the second Test to go two matches behind.
The England squad subsequently went on a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before this match, Stokes revealed his team had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay alive in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the guidance from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their prior tenure in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal on day four came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a notional target of 435 runs.
This means, the home team need four wickets on the last day to secure an insurmountable three-nil lead after three Tests.
A loss would prolong England's winless run in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes defeat.
This series is set to be decided in only 11 days of cricket – with England fell the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disheartening," admitted Crawley. "We came here to regain the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel now."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been tough. Australia is a very, very good team. It was always going to be hard touring here to face them. They entered as the favourites coming in to it they've proven why."
Pope's Place In Question
While Crawley's performance in Adelaide probably answers questions about his immediate place in the side, Pope appears under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in the team's second innings on Saturday, adding to his poor record against Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and averages 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played as many times in the top six in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
However, Crawley insisted any notion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – meaning the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is noise externally. There's no chat like that regarding Pope amongst the players," he finished.
