The English opener Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of statements made by skipper Ben Stokes about the team environment as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder delivered this message in multiple conversations in the wake of his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes against Australia previously.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where England are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, the captain noted he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" within the playing group.
"I've done the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
However, following the opener scored 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take everything that is said in the media with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
Stokes made the "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to his side were beaten in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.
The team afterwards went on a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his players had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay alive in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the messaging from the captain and head coach McCullum had stayed in line with their prior tenure in charge.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with great liberty. It felt like we were capable of an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – left England 207-6 chasing a notional target of 435.
This means, the home team need just four more wickets on the last day to move to an insurmountable three-nil advantage after three matches played.
A loss will extend England's winless run in this country to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth straight overseas Ashes loss.
This series is set to be decided in only eleven days of play – after England fell the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances 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 will still be plenty to play for and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been tough. Australia is a formidable team. It was always going to be hard touring here to face them. They were the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
While the opener's performance in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his short-term future in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in the team's second innings on day four, extending his poor record versus the old enemy.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a half-century and boasts an average of just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
However, the opener said any suggestion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said he. "He has had a productive year to be frank."
"He has produced several excellent innings. This is noise from the outside. There's no chat of that nature regarding Pope amongst the players," he concluded.
