England opening batter Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments made by skipper Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder delivered those words in multiple conversations following England's defeat in the second Ashes series versus the Australians previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
However, following Crawley made a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"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 Steady Philosophy
Stokes made the "weak men" observation subsequent to England were beaten in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards went on a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he said his players had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from the captain and head coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their previous three years in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat going into this game."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's wicket on day four came during a decisive triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left England six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional total of 435 runs.
This means, Australia require four wickets on the last day to secure an unassailable three-nil lead after three Tests.
Defeat would prolong the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth successive away Ashes series defeat.
This series is set to be decided in only 11 days of play – with England losing the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed a series win in England in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been determined so quickly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," said Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're facing elimination now."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we will definitely view it like that," he continued.
"The challenge has been difficult. They're a very, very good side. It was inevitably tough touring here to face them. They were the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position In Question
Although the opener's innings in the third Test probably answers questions about his short-term future in the side, Pope looks under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in England's second knock on day four, extending his modest returns versus Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and averages 17.62.
Only one other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.
But, the opener insisted any notion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."
"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 some really good knocks. This is noise from the outside. There's no chat of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley finished.
