The English opener Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments made by captain Ben Stokes about the team environment not being "weak men".
Stokes delivered this message in several interviews in the wake of England's loss in the second Ashes versus the Australians previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" among the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
However, after Crawley scored a knock of 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.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "weak men" comment subsequent to his side suffered a loss in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The team subsequently went on a holiday to Noosa between the second and third Tests.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes said his players had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, Crawley asserted the guidance from Stokes and coach McCullum had remained in line with their prior three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," noted Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we could do something special entering this game."
Australia Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday was part of a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side 207-6 chasing a notional target of 435.
This means, the home team require just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an unassailable three-nil advantage after three Tests.
A loss will extend England's winless run in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes series defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in just 11 days of play – with England fell the first two Tests in rapid time each.
The last time 1921, when Australia sealed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome 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 disappointing," said Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we will definitely view it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a formidable side. It was inevitably tough touring here to face them. They entered as the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's innings in the third Test likely secures doubts about his immediate place in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 runs in the team's second innings on day four, extending his poor record versus Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.
However, the opener insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know of his considerable talent," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is talk from the outside. There's no chat of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," he finished.
