England opener Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments made by skipper Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
Stokes delivered those words in multiple conversations in the wake of England's loss in the second match of the Ashes against the Australians previously.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors now face defeat with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had let his message to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I've done the necessary discussions in recent days that I required," remarked the England leader.
But, after Crawley made a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the media with some skepticism," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "weak men" observation after England suffered a loss in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards went on a break to Noosa between the second and third Tests.
Before the Adelaide contest, he said his team had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley stated the guidance from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior three years in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we were capable of an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
The Hosts Close of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal on day four came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – meant England six down for 207 chasing a daunting total of 435 runs.
This means, the home team require four wickets on the final day to secure an insurmountable three-nil lead with three matches played.
Defeat will extend England's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series defeat.
The current battle will be completed in only 11 days of cricket – after England losing the first two Tests in two and four days each.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disheartening," said the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel at this point."
"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 side. It was always going to be hard coming here to face them. They were the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
Although Crawley's performance in Adelaide probably answers questions about his short-term future in the England team, Ollie Pope looks under threat for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
Pope was out for 17 runs in England's second knock on day four, extending his poor record versus Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
However, the opener said any notion his teammate is under the microscope originates with "you guys" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is noise from the outside. There is no chat like that on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley finished.
