England opening batter Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments from captain Ben Stokes regarding the team environment not being "weak men".
The all-rounder made this message in multiple interviews following his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes versus the Australians previously.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where England are staring at defeat with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had let his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I have completed all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
But, after the opener scored 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 everything that is said in the press with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "weak men" comment subsequent to England suffered a loss in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently took a break to Noosa between the second and third Tests.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes said his team had held "raw" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the messaging from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their prior tenure in charge.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat going into this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's dismissal on day four was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team need just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 lead after three Tests.
A loss will extend the English team's winless run in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes series loss.
This series is set to be decided in only 11 days of play – with England losing the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also won in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a formidable side. 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 the third Test likely secures doubts about his immediate place in the side, Ollie Pope appears under threat for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in the team's second knock on Saturday, adding to his poor record versus the old enemy.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and boasts an average of just 17.62.
Only one other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top six in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
But, the opener insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added Crawley. "He has had a productive year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is talk externally. There is no chat of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," he finished.
