England opener Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments made by captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder made those words in several interviews following England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series against Australia previously.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, the captain noted he had let his message to "drift around" within the playing group.
"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
However, after the opener scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take anything stated in the press with some skepticism," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "fragile individuals" observation after his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards went on a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before this match, Stokes revealed his players had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to remain in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from Stokes and head coach McCullum had remained in line with their prior tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do something special entering this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
The opener's dismissal on day four came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – left England 207-6 in pursuit of a notional total of 435.
This means, Australia need four wickets on Sunday's final day to secure an insurmountable three-nil lead after three Tests.
Defeat would prolong England's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes series defeat.
This series is set to be decided in just eleven days of cricket – after England losing the initial matches in rapid time each.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"It's disappointing," said Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel at this point."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a formidable team. It was inevitably hard coming here to face them. They were the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's performance in Adelaide likely secures questions about his short-term future in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 in England's second innings on Saturday, extending his modest returns against the old enemy.
In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a half-century and averages 17.62.
A solitary other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
However, the opener said any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope originates with "the media" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is noise from the outside. There's no discussion of that nature regarding Pope amongst the players," he finished.
