The English opener Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments from skipper Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder delivered those words in several conversations following his team's defeat in the second Ashes versus Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, the captain noted he had allowed his message to "drift around" within the playing group.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I required," remarked Stokes.
But, after Crawley made 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"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," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain made the "fragile individuals" observation after England suffered a loss in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards went on a break to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before this match, Stokes said his team had held "raw" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, Crawley asserted the guidance from the captain and head coach McCullum had stayed in line with their previous tenure in charge.
"It's been very positive, unchanged," noted the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's wicket on day four came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant England six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435 runs.
Consequently, Australia need four wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an unassailable 3-0 advantage with three matches played.
Defeat will extend the English team's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes loss.
The current battle will be completed in just 11 days of cricket – with England losing the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia sealed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," said Crawley. "We came here to regain the Ashes and we're facing elimination now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a very, very good side. It was inevitably tough touring here against them. They entered as the favourites and they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Position In Question
While Crawley's performance in the third Test probably answers questions about his short-term future in the England team, Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in England's second innings on Saturday, extending his modest returns versus Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has never made a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
However, the opener said any notion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "the media" – meaning the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year if I'm honest."
"He has produced several excellent innings. This is noise externally. There's no chat like that regarding Pope amongst the players," he concluded.
