England opening batter Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with statements from skipper Ben Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder made those words in multiple interviews following England's defeat in the second Ashes versus the Australians previously.
Ahead of the third Test, where England are staring at defeat with a match to spare, the captain noted he had let his message to "drift around" within the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
However, after Crawley made a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take anything stated in the media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "weak men" comment after England suffered a loss in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The team subsequently went on a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before this match, Stokes said his team had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay alive in the series.
Yet, Crawley stated the guidance from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their prior tenure in charge.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we were capable of something special going into this game."
Australia On the Verge of Rapid Ashes Triumph
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday came during a crucial triple-strike by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435.
Consequently, the home team need just four more wickets on the final day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 lead after three Tests.
Defeat will extend the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes defeat.
This series is set to be decided in just 11 days of cricket – after England fell the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"It's disappointing," said Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're facing elimination now."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. They're a formidable team. It was inevitably tough coming here to face them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's innings in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his short-term future in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in England's second innings on day four, adding to his modest returns against the old enemy.
In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
However, Crawley insisted any suggestion Pope is under the microscope originates with "the media" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said he. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is noise externally. There's no discussion like that on Ollie in the camp," Crawley concluded.
