The English opening batter Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments from captain Ben Stokes about the team environment as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder delivered this message in several interviews in the wake of England's loss in the second Ashes series versus the Australians earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had allowed his message to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I required," said the England leader.
However, following the opener made a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, 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," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "weak men" comment subsequent to his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.
The team subsequently went on a break to Noosa between the second and third matches.
Before this match, he revealed his team had held "honest" conversations and he had urged 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 coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," noted the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do something special going into this Test."
Australia Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's wicket late on Saturday was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left England 207-6 in pursuit of a notional target of 435 runs.
Consequently, Australia need four wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an unassailable three-nil lead with three matches played.
A loss would prolong England's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series loss.
The current battle will be completed in just eleven days of play – after England fell the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," said Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. Australia is a very, very good side. It was always going to be tough coming here to face them. They were the favourites and they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
While Crawley's innings in the third Test probably answers doubts about his short-term place in the England team, Ollie Pope looks under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 runs in England's second innings on Saturday, adding to his modest returns versus Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
However, Crawley said any notion Pope is under the microscope comes from "you guys" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."
"We all know how good of a player he is," added he. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is noise from the outside. There's no discussion of that nature on Ollie in the camp," Crawley finished.
