England opener Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements from captain Ben Stokes regarding the team environment not being "weak men".
Stokes delivered those words in multiple interviews following his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series against Australia previously.
Ahead of the third Test, where England are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had let his message to "circulate freely" within the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
However, following the opener scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate 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 some skepticism," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "weak men" observation after England were beaten in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards took a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third Tests.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he said his team had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from Stokes and coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their previous three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," noted Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat going into this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's wicket on day four came during a decisive triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Brook and Stokes himself – left England 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435 runs.
This means, Australia need four wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an unassailable three-nil advantage with three Tests.
A loss would prolong England's winless run in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in just eleven days of play – with England losing the initial matches in two and four days each.
Not since 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," admitted the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and we're facing elimination at this point."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably tough touring here to face them. They entered as the front-runners and they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Position In Question
While the opener's innings in the third Test probably answers doubts about his immediate place in the England team, Pope looks under threat for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in the team's second innings on day four, adding to his modest returns against Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a half-century and averages 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.
However, Crawley insisted any notion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. It is talk from the outside. There is no chat like that regarding Pope amongst the players," he concluded.
