The English opening batter Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments made by skipper Ben Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".
Stokes made this message in multiple conversations in the wake of his team's loss in the second Ashes series against the Australians previously.
Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" within the squad.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I required," said the England leader.
But, following the opener made 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the media with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "fragile individuals" observation subsequent to England were beaten in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The England squad subsequently took a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before the Adelaide contest, he revealed his players had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to remain in contention in the series.
Yet, Crawley stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their previous tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," noted Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we were capable of something special going into this Test."
Australia On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
The opener's wicket late on Saturday was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant England 207-6 in pursuit of a notional total of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team require four wickets on the final day to move to an unassailable 3-0 lead after three matches played.
Defeat would prolong England's drought in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes loss.
This series is set to be decided in just 11 days of cricket – after England fell the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"It's disheartening," said Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably tough coming here against them. They were the favourites coming in to it they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's innings in the third Test likely secures questions about his immediate place in the side, Pope looks under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in England's second innings on day four, adding to his modest returns against Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a fifty and averages 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
However, Crawley insisted any notion his teammate is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added Crawley. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is talk from the outside. There's no discussion like that regarding Pope amongst the players," he finished.
