England opener Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments made by skipper Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
Stokes delivered those words in several conversations in the wake of his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes against the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at defeat with a match to spare, the captain noted he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" among the squad.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I required," said the England leader.
But, after the opener scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. We take everything that is said in the press with some skepticism," he added.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
The captain issued his "fragile individuals" observation subsequent to his side suffered a loss in the second Test to go two matches behind.
The team subsequently went on a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third Tests.
Before this match, he said his team had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain in contention in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their previous three years in charge.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," noted the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
Australia Close of Rapid Series Victory
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant England six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435 runs.
This means, Australia require just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an unassailable 3-0 advantage with three Tests.
Defeat would prolong England's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth successive away Ashes series defeat.
This series is set to be decided in just 11 days of cricket – after England fell the first two Tests in two and four days each.
Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disheartening," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel now."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. They're a very, very good team. It was always going to be hard touring here to face them. They were the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's innings in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his immediate future in the side, Pope looks under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
Pope fell for 17 runs in England's second knock on Saturday, adding to his modest returns versus Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and boasts an average of just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
But, the opener said any suggestion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. It is noise externally. There's no discussion like that on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
