The English opener Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments from captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
Stokes made those words in several conversations in the wake of England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series versus Australia earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors now face a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had allowed his message to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I required," remarked Stokes.
But, following Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take anything stated in the press with some skepticism," he added.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
The captain made the "fragile individuals" comment after England suffered a loss in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The team afterwards went on a break to a Queensland resort between the second and third Tests.
Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes said his team had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, Crawley stated the messaging from the captain and coach McCullum had stayed in line with their previous tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we were capable of something special going into this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left England six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team need four wickets on Sunday's final day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 lead with three matches played.
Defeat would prolong England's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in just eleven days of cricket – after England fell the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"It's disappointing," admitted the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a very, very good side. It was inevitably hard coming here against them. They were the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's performance in Adelaide likely secures questions about his short-term place in the side, Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 in the team's second knock on day four, extending his modest returns versus Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a fifty 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 the Ashes and returned a lower average.
However, the opener said any suggestion Pope is under the microscope comes from "you guys" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. It is noise externally. There's no discussion of that nature regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
