The English opening batter Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments from captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered this message in multiple interviews following his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes versus the Australians previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at defeat with a match to spare, the captain stated he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the playing group.
"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
However, following Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the fourth 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 press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "weak men" observation subsequent to England were beaten in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.
The team afterwards took a holiday to Noosa between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Prior to this match, Stokes said his team had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, Crawley asserted the guidance from Stokes and coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their previous tenure in charge.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do something special entering this game."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – meant England six down for 207 chasing a notional target of 435.
Consequently, the home team require four wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an insurmountable three-nil advantage after three Tests.
A loss would prolong England's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series loss.
The current battle will be completed in only eleven days of cricket – with England fell the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we will certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a formidable side. It was always going to be hard coming here to face them. They were the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's performance in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his short-term future in the side, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 in the team's second innings on Saturday, adding to his poor record versus the old enemy.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a half-century and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and recorded a lower average.
However, Crawley said any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said he. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has produced some really good knocks. It is talk externally. There's no discussion like that on Ollie in the camp," Crawley finished.
