England opener Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of statements made by captain Ben Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".
The all-rounder made this message in several interviews in the wake of his team's loss in the second Ashes against the Australians previously.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors now face defeat with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the playing group.
"I've done the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
However, after Crawley scored 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"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," he added.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain issued his "weak men" comment subsequent to England suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.
The England squad subsequently went on a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before this match, he revealed his team had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the guidance from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their prior tenure in leadership.
"It's been very positive, the same as always," noted the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. It felt like we could do something special entering this game."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday came during a decisive triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left England 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435.
This means, Australia need four wickets on the final day to secure an unassailable 3-0 lead with three Tests.
Defeat would prolong England's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes defeat.
This series will be completed in just 11 days of play – with England fell the initial matches in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"It's disheartening," admitted Crawley. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a very, very good team. It was always going to be tough touring here against them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's innings in the third Test likely secures questions about his short-term future in the side, Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 runs in the team's second knock on Saturday, adding to his modest returns against the old enemy.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a half-century and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
However, the opener said any notion Pope is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – referring to the press – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is noise from the outside. There is no chat like that regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
