The English opener Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments made by skipper Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder delivered this message in multiple conversations following England's loss in the second match of the Ashes series versus Australia previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, the captain stated he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" among the squad.
"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
However, after Crawley made 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the press with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "fragile individuals" observation after his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to go two matches behind.
The team subsequently went on a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes said his team had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay alive in the Ashes battle.
Yet, Crawley stated the messaging from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their previous tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do something special going into this Test."
Australia Close of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side 207-6 chasing a daunting target of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team need just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an unassailable 3-0 lead after three matches played.
Defeat will extend the English team's drought in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes series loss.
The current battle will be completed in just eleven days of cricket – with England losing the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia sealed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"It's disheartening," said the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel now."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. They're a formidable team. 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 Place In Question
While the opener's innings in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his short-term place in the England team, Pope looks under threat for his position in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
Pope fell for 17 runs in the team's second innings on Saturday, extending his poor record against Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other England player in over a century – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
But, Crawley said any notion Pope is being scrutinised originates with "you guys" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added he. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has produced several excellent innings. It is noise externally. There's no chat of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," he concluded.
