England opening batter Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments made by skipper Ben Stokes regarding the team environment as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes made this message in several conversations in the wake of England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes against Australia previously.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had let his message to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," said Stokes.
But, after the opener scored 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain made the "weak men" observation subsequent to England suffered a loss in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards went on a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to this match, he revealed his team had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their previous three years in charge.
"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
The opener's wicket 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 Ben Stokes – left the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional target of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team need just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an unassailable three-nil advantage with three matches played.
Defeat will extend England's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series loss.
This series is set to be decided in just 11 days of cricket – after England losing the initial matches in rapid time each.
Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined more swiftly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"It's disheartening," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel at this point."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we will definitely view it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably tough touring here against them. They were the favourites coming in to it they've proven why."
Pope's Position In Question
Although the opener's performance in the third Test likely secures doubts about his immediate future in the side, Ollie Pope appears under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
Pope fell for 17 runs in the team's second innings on day four, adding to his poor record versus the old enemy.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and boasts an average of just 17.62.
Only one other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in the Ashes and recorded a poorer average.
But, Crawley said any notion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "the media" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added he. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. It is talk from the outside. There's no chat like that regarding Pope in the camp," he concluded.
