England opener Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments from skipper Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes made this message in multiple interviews following England's defeat in the second Ashes against Australia earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors now face a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had allowed his message to "drift around" within the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
However, following Crawley made a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
The captain made the "fragile individuals" comment after his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.
The England squad subsequently took a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before the Adelaide contest, he revealed his team had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley stated the guidance from the captain and head coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior tenure in leadership.
"It's been very positive, unchanged," said Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we were capable of something special entering this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435 runs.
This means, the home team need just four more wickets on the final day to move to an unassailable three-nil lead with three matches played.
A loss will extend England's winless run in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes loss.
The current battle will be completed in only 11 days of play – after England losing the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it like that," he continued.
"It's been tough. They're a very, very good side. It was always going to be tough touring here to face them. They were the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's innings in the third Test likely secures questions about his immediate place in the England team, Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 in England's second knock on day four, extending his modest returns against Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has never made a half-century and boasts an average of just 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
But, the opener said any notion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – meaning the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"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 played some really good knocks. This is noise externally. There's no discussion like that on Ollie amongst the players," he concluded.
