England opening batter Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments made by skipper Ben Stokes about the team environment not being "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder delivered this message in several conversations in the wake of England's defeat in the second Ashes series versus the Australians earlier this month.
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" among the playing group.
"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
But, following Crawley made a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take anything stated in the press with some skepticism," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "fragile individuals" observation after England suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently went on a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and third matches.
Prior to this match, Stokes said his players had held "raw" conversations and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the guidance from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their previous three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this game."
Australia Close of Historic Series Victory
The opener's wicket on day four came during a decisive triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a notional total of 435 runs.
This means, the home team require four wickets on the final day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 lead after three Tests.
Defeat will extend the English team's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth straight overseas Ashes defeat.
This series is set to be decided in just 11 days of cricket – with England losing the first two Tests in rapid time each.
Not since 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," said the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been difficult. They're a very, very good side. It was always going to be hard touring here against them. They entered as the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's innings in Adelaide likely secures questions about his immediate future in the side, Ollie Pope appears under threat for his position in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
Pope was out for 17 runs in the team's second knock on day four, extending his modest returns against the old enemy.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a fifty and averages 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has featured as many times in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
However, the opener insisted any notion his teammate 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. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is noise from the outside. There is no discussion of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," he finished.
