England opener Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments made by skipper Ben Stokes regarding the team environment as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes made those words in multiple conversations in the wake of his team's loss in the second Ashes series versus Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," remarked Stokes.
However, following Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
The captain issued his "weak men" observation after his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.
The team afterwards went on a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third Tests.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he said his players had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay alive in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from the captain and coach McCullum had stayed in line with their prior three years in charge.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
Australia Close of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australian spinner Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – meant England six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional total of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team need just four more wickets on the last day to move to an unassailable 3-0 advantage after three matches played.
A loss would prolong England's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series defeat.
This series will be completed in only 11 days of play – with England fell the initial matches in rapid time each.
The last time 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been determined more swiftly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"It's disappointing," admitted 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 will certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a very, very good side. It was inevitably tough touring here to face them. They were the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Position In Question
While Crawley's innings in Adelaide probably answers questions about his immediate place in the side, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 runs in England's second innings on Saturday, adding to his modest returns against Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has never made a half-century 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, Crawley insisted any suggestion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said he. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. It is noise externally. There's no chat of that nature regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley finished.
