Crawley Unaware of Stokes' Provocative 'Frail Characters' Remarks

The English opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments from captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "weak men".

Stokes delivered those words in several interviews in the wake of England's loss in the second match of the Ashes series versus Australia previously.

In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" within the playing group.

"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.

But, following the opener scored 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I didn't see that."

"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with some skepticism," he added.

Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging

The captain made the "weak men" observation after his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.

The team afterwards went on a holiday to Noosa between the second and the upcoming Tests.

Prior to this match, Stokes said his team had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.

Nevertheless, Crawley stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their previous three years in charge.

"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of something special entering this game."

The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Series Victory

Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.

The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a notional total of 435 runs.

This means, Australia need just four more wickets on Sunday's final day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 lead with three matches played.

A loss would prolong the English team's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth successive away Ashes defeat.

This series is set to be decided in only 11 days of play – after England losing the first two Tests in rapid time each.

The last time 1921, when the Australians completed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been determined so quickly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.

"This is disheartening," said Crawley. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."

"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it like that," he continued.

"It's been tough. They're a very, very good side. It was always going to be hard touring here against them. They were the favourites and they've proven why."

Pope's Position Under Scrutiny

Although Crawley's performance in the third Test probably answers doubts about his immediate place in the side, Ollie Pope looks under threat for his position in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.

The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in England's second knock on day four, extending his modest returns versus the old enemy.

In sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.

Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.

However, Crawley said any suggestion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."

"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year to be frank."

"He has played some really good knocks. It is noise externally. There's no chat of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," he concluded.