The English opener Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments from skipper Ben Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered this message in multiple conversations following England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series versus the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had let 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 scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the press with some skepticism," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to his side were beaten in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The England squad subsequently went on a break to a Queensland resort between the second and third matches.
Prior to this match, Stokes said his players had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain alive in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their previous tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this Test."
Australia On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
The opener's wicket late on Saturday came during a decisive triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435.
This means, Australia require just four more wickets on the final day to secure an unassailable three-nil advantage after three matches played.
Defeat will extend England's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth successive overseas Ashes loss.
The current battle will be completed in just eleven days of play – after England losing the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when Australia completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.
"It's disheartening," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There remains plenty to play for and we will certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard touring here to face them. They were the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."
Pope's Position In Question
While the opener's innings in the third Test probably answers doubts about his immediate future in the England team, Pope looks under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in England's second innings on Saturday, extending his modest returns against Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has never made a half-century and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in the Ashes and recorded a lower average.
However, Crawley said any suggestion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – meaning the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added he. "He has had a productive year to be frank."
"He has played several excellent innings. It is talk from the outside. There is no discussion like that regarding Pope amongst the players," he finished.
