England opening batter Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with statements made by captain Ben Stokes regarding the team environment as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered those words in multiple interviews in the wake of his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes versus Australia previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face a series loss with a match to spare, the captain stated he had let his sentiment to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I required," remarked Stokes.
But, after the opener scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching 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
Stokes issued his "weak men" comment after his side were beaten in Brisbane to go two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards took a holiday to Noosa between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his players had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain alive in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the messaging from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their previous tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," said the opener. "It's just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with great liberty. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat entering this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
The opener's wicket late on Saturday came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant England 207-6 chasing a daunting total of 435.
Consequently, Australia require four wickets on the final day to secure an unassailable three-nil lead after three matches played.
A loss will extend England's winless run in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series loss.
This series will be completed in only eleven days of cricket – with England fell the initial matches in two and four days each.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disheartening," said the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it like that," he continued.
"It's been tough. Australia is a formidable team. It was inevitably hard touring here against them. They were the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Position In Question
Although Crawley's innings in Adelaide probably answers questions about his immediate place in the side, Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 in the team's second innings on day four, extending his modest returns against Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
But, the opener said any notion Pope is under the microscope comes from "you guys" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added he. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has produced several excellent innings. It is noise from the outside. There's no chat of that nature regarding Pope amongst the players," he finished.
