England opener Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments made by captain Ben Stokes about the team environment as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered this message in several conversations in the wake of his team's defeat in the second Ashes against Australia earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat with a match to spare, the captain noted he had let his sentiment to "drift around" within the squad.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I required," remarked the England leader.
But, following the opener made a knock of 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"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 Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "fragile individuals" comment after England were beaten in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards went on a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before this match, he revealed his team had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay alive in the Ashes battle.
Yet, Crawley asserted the messaging from Stokes and coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do something special going into this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday was part of a crucial three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant England six down for 207 chasing a notional target of 435 runs.
This means, the home team need four wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 lead after three matches played.
A loss would prolong the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes series defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in just 11 days of play – with England losing the first two Tests in rapid time each.
The last time 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided so quickly. The hosts have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"It's disappointing," admitted the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it like that," he continued.
"It's been tough. They're a very, very good side. It was always going to be hard coming here against them. They were the front-runners and they've proven why."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's performance in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his short-term future in the side, Pope appears under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in England's second knock on day four, extending his poor record versus Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a half-century and averages 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
But, Crawley said any notion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "the media" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has produced several excellent innings. This is talk from the outside. There is no chat of that nature on Ollie in the camp," he finished.
