England opener Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with statements made by captain Ben Stokes about the team environment not being "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder made those words in multiple conversations following England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series versus Australia previously.
Ahead of the third Test, where England are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had let his sentiment to "drift around" within the playing group.
"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I required," said the England leader.
But, following Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to his side suffered a loss in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The team subsequently took a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before this match, he revealed his players had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay alive in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley stated the messaging from the captain and coach McCullum had stayed in line with their previous tenure in charge.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," noted Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of something special going into this Test."
Australia Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's wicket on day four was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left England 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435 runs.
This means, Australia need just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 lead after three matches played.
A loss would prolong the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes loss.
This series will be completed in just eleven days of cricket – after England losing the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.
"It's disheartening," said the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been difficult. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard touring here against them. They were the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's performance in Adelaide probably answers questions about his immediate future in the England team, Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
Pope was out for 17 runs in England's second innings on day four, adding to his modest returns versus the old enemy.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and averages 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
However, Crawley said any suggestion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."
"We all know how good of a player he is," added he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is noise externally. There's no discussion like that regarding Pope in the camp," Crawley concluded.
