The English opener Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments made by skipper Ben Stokes about the dressing room not being "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered this message in several interviews in the wake of his team's loss in the second Ashes series against the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where England are staring at defeat with a match to spare, the captain stated he had let his sentiment to "drift around" within the squad.
"I have completed all the talking over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
However, after the opener scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the media with some skepticism," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to England suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards went on a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he 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 series.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the guidance from the captain and head coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their previous three years in charge.
"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with great liberty. It felt like we were capable of something special entering this game."
The Hosts Close of Historic Series Victory
The opener's wicket on day four came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – left England 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435.
This means, Australia require just four more wickets on Sunday's final day to secure an insurmountable three-nil advantage after three Tests.
Defeat will extend the English team's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes series loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in just eleven days of cricket – with England losing the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," admitted Crawley. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we will definitely view it like that," he continued.
"The challenge has been tough. They're a very, very good side. It was inevitably hard coming here against them. They entered as the favourites and they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's performance in the third Test likely secures questions about his immediate place in the England team, Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
Pope was out for 17 in the team's second innings on Saturday, extending his modest returns versus the old enemy.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a fifty and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other England player in over a century – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
But, the opener said any notion Pope is under the microscope comes from "the media" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added Crawley. "He has had a productive year to be frank."
"He has played several excellent innings. It is noise from the outside. There is no discussion of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," Crawley finished.
