England opening batter Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments made by captain Ben Stokes about the dressing room not being "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes made those words in multiple conversations in the wake of England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes against Australia earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where England are staring at defeat with a match to spare, the captain stated he had allowed his message to "drift around" among the squad.
"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I required," remarked the England leader.
However, following Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "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 issued his "fragile individuals" observation subsequent to England suffered a loss in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.
The team subsequently took a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his players had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain in contention in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from the captain and head coach McCullum had remained consistent with their previous tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday came during a decisive triple-strike by Australian spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant England 207-6 chasing a daunting target of 435.
Consequently, Australia require four wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 lead with three matches played.
A loss will extend the English team's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth straight overseas Ashes series loss.
This series is set to be decided in only 11 days of cricket – after England losing the initial matches in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when Australia completed a series win in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined so quickly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're facing elimination now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will definitely view it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been difficult. Australia is a very, very good side. It was always going to be hard coming here to face them. They were the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Position In Question
Although Crawley's innings in the third Test likely secures questions about his immediate place in the England team, Pope looks under threat for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 in England's second innings on Saturday, adding to his poor record versus Australia.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and boasts an average of just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
However, the opener said any notion his teammate is under the microscope originates with "the media" – referring to the press – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year to be frank."
"He has played several excellent innings. It is talk externally. There's no discussion like that regarding Pope in the camp," he concluded.
