The English opening batter Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments made by skipper Ben Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder made those words in several conversations in the wake of his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes versus Australia previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
However, following Crawley made 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. We take everything that is said in the press with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "fragile individuals" comment after his side were beaten in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards went on a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, he revealed his players had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay alive in the Ashes battle.
Yet, Crawley asserted the messaging from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their prior tenure in charge.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," noted Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat entering this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday came during a decisive triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a notional total of 435.
This means, the home team need four wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an unassailable three-nil lead with three Tests.
A loss will extend England's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth straight overseas Ashes loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in only 11 days of cricket – after England losing the initial matches in rapid time respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're facing elimination now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard coming here to face them. They entered as the favourites and they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
Although the opener's innings in Adelaide likely secures questions about his short-term place in the side, Ollie Pope looks under threat for his position in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in the team's second innings on day four, adding to his poor record versus 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 Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.
However, Crawley insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played several excellent innings. It is noise externally. There's no chat of that nature on Ollie in the camp," Crawley concluded.
