The English opener Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments made by skipper Ben Stokes about the team environment as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered those words in multiple interviews in the wake of England's loss in the second match of the Ashes against the Australians previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" within the playing group.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I required," remarked Stokes.
But, following Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "fragile individuals" observation subsequent to his side suffered a loss in the second Test to go two matches behind.
The England squad subsequently went on a holiday to Noosa in the gap between the second and third Tests.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he revealed his team had held "raw" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay in contention in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their prior three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we were capable of something special entering this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
The opener's wicket late on Saturday came during a crucial triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Ben Stokes – meant England 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435 runs.
This means, the home team need just four more wickets on the final day to move to an insurmountable three-nil lead after three matches played.
Defeat will extend England's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes defeat.
This series will be completed in only eleven days of play – after England fell the first two Tests in two and four days each.
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. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," admitted the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and we're facing elimination now."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it like that," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been difficult. They're a very, very good side. It was always going to be hard touring here against them. They were the favourites coming in to it they've proven why."
Pope's Position In Question
Although the opener's performance in the third Test probably answers doubts about his immediate place in the side, Pope appears under threat for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in England's second innings on day four, extending his poor record versus Australia.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a fifty and averages just 17.62.
Only one other England player in over a century – Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
But, Crawley insisted any notion his teammate is under the microscope originates with "the media" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," added Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year to be frank."
"He has played several excellent innings. It is talk from the outside. There's no chat of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," he concluded.
