England opener Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with statements made by captain Ben Stokes about the team environment as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder made this message in multiple interviews in the wake of England's loss in the second Ashes against the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I have completed all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," said Stokes.
But, following Crawley scored 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. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to his side suffered a loss in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards took a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and third matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes said his team had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay in contention in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from the captain and head coach McCullum had remained in line with their previous three years in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted the opener. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. It felt like we were capable of something special entering this Test."
Australia Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's wicket on day four was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a daunting total of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team need just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an unassailable 3-0 lead with three matches played.
A loss would prolong England's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series defeat.
The current battle will be completed in only eleven days of cricket – after England losing the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," said Crawley. "We came here to regain the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been difficult. Australia is a very, very good side. It was inevitably tough coming here against them. They entered as the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Position In Question
While Crawley's performance in the third Test probably answers doubts about his immediate place in the England team, Pope appears under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in England's second knock on day four, extending his modest returns against Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
However, Crawley insisted any suggestion Pope is under the microscope comes from "you guys" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "He has had a productive year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is talk from the outside. There's no chat of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," he concluded.
