England opener Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of statements from captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "weak men".
Stokes made those words in several conversations following England's loss in the second Ashes series versus the Australians earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where England now face defeat with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" among the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
However, after the opener scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. We take anything stated in the press with some skepticism," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "weak men" comment after England suffered a loss in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards went on a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he said his players had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain alive in the series.
Yet, Crawley asserted the messaging from Stokes and head coach McCullum had remained consistent with their previous three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do something special going into this Test."
Australia On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left England 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435 runs.
This means, the home team need just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an insurmountable three-nil lead with three Tests.
Defeat will extend the English team's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes series loss.
This series will be completed in just eleven days of play – with England losing the first two Tests in two and four days each.
Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"It's disheartening," said Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been tough. They're a very, very good side. It was always going to be tough touring here to face them. They were the front-runners and they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While the opener's performance in the third Test likely secures questions about his immediate future in the side, Pope appears under threat for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 in England's second innings on Saturday, 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.
A solitary other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
However, Crawley said 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 good year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is noise from the outside. There's no discussion like that regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley finished.
