England opening batter Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of statements made by captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
Stokes made this message in several interviews following England's loss in the second Ashes series against the Australians previously.
Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat with a match to spare, the captain stated he had let his message to "circulate freely" within the playing group.
"I've done the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
But, following Crawley made 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the press with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "fragile individuals" observation subsequent to his side were beaten in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The team afterwards went on a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third Tests.
Prior to this match, he said his team had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the guidance 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," said the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. It felt like we could do something special going into this game."
The Hosts Close of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal on day four came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a daunting target of 435.
Consequently, Australia require four wickets on the last day to move to an unassailable three-nil advantage with three matches played.
A loss will extend the English team's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth straight away Ashes loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in just eleven days of play – with England fell the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined more swiftly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"It's disappointing," said the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a very, very good side. It was inevitably tough touring here to face them. They were the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's innings in the third Test probably answers doubts about his immediate future in the England team, Ollie Pope looks under threat for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in the team's second innings on day four, adding to his modest returns against the old enemy.
In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a lower average.
However, the opener said any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"We all know how good of a player he is," added Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. It is noise externally. There's no discussion like that regarding Pope amongst the players," he concluded.
