England opening batter Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments made by captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder made this message in multiple conversations in the wake of England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes versus Australia previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face defeat with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had allowed his message to "drift around" within the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," remarked Stokes.
However, following Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "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," he added.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
The captain issued his "fragile individuals" observation after England suffered a loss in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently went on a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and third matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes said his players had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay alive in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from the captain and coach McCullum had remained in line with their prior tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted the opener. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we could do something special entering this game."
Australia Close of Rapid Ashes Triumph
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side 207-6 chasing a notional target of 435.
This means, the home team require just four more wickets on the last day to move to an insurmountable three-nil advantage after three Tests.
A loss will extend England's drought in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes series defeat.
This series is set to be decided in just 11 days of cricket – after England losing the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.
The last time 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"It's disheartening," said Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're facing elimination now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"The challenge has been tough. They're a formidable team. It was always going to be tough coming here against them. They were the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While the opener's performance in the third Test probably answers doubts about his immediate future in the side, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in England's second knock on Saturday, adding to his modest returns against the old enemy.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and averages just 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
However, Crawley said any notion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said he. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has produced some really good knocks. It is talk from the outside. There's no chat of that nature on Ollie in the camp," he finished.
