England opener Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with statements made by skipper Ben Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered this message in several interviews in the wake of his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes series against Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the squad.
"I have completed all the talking over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
But, following the opener made 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 a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "weak men" observation after his side were beaten in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards went on a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his team had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain in contention in the series.
Yet, Crawley asserted the guidance from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their previous tenure in charge.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. It felt like we were capable of an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday came during a decisive triple-strike by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant England six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team require just four more wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an insurmountable three-nil lead with three Tests.
Defeat will extend the English team's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes series defeat.
This series will be completed in only 11 days of play – after England fell the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"It's disappointing," said Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a very, very good team. It was inevitably tough touring here to face them. They were the favourites coming in to it they've proven why."
Pope's Place In Question
While the opener's performance in Adelaide likely secures questions about his short-term place in the side, Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 in England's second innings on day four, adding to his modest returns versus Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has never made a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in the Ashes and recorded a lower average.
However, the opener said any notion his teammate is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said he. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is talk from the outside. There's no chat of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," he concluded.
