The English opener Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments made by skipper Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered this message in multiple interviews following his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes series versus Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat with a match to spare, the captain noted he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" within the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I required," said Stokes.
But, following the opener scored 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. We take anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "fragile individuals" observation subsequent to England suffered a loss in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The England squad subsequently took a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third matches.
Before this match, he said his team had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the messaging from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their prior three years in charge.
"It's been very positive, the same as always," noted the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. It felt like we could do something special going into this game."
The Hosts Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's dismissal on day four came during a decisive triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – meant England six down for 207 chasing a daunting target of 435 runs.
This means, Australia need just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an unassailable three-nil lead after three matches played.
Defeat would prolong the English team's winless run in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes series defeat.
The current battle will be completed in just eleven days of play – after England fell the initial matches in two and four days each.
Not since 1921, when Australia sealed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"It's disheartening," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it like that," he continued.
"It's been tough. Australia is a formidable side. It was inevitably hard coming here to face them. They were the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's performance in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his immediate place in the side, Pope appears under threat for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 runs in England's second innings on Saturday, adding to his modest returns against Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and boasts an average of just 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and recorded a lower average.
But, Crawley insisted any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope originates with "the media" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. It is talk from the outside. There is no chat of that nature on Ollie in the camp," he finished.
