Crawley Claims Ignorance of Stokes' Controversial 'Frail Characters' Comments

England opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments from captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "weak men".

Stokes delivered this message in several interviews following his team's defeat in the second Ashes series versus Australia previously.

In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at defeat with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" among the playing group.

"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I required," remarked the England leader.

But, after Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."

"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take everything that is said in the press with some skepticism," Crawley continued.

Frank Discussions 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 took a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.

Before the Adelaide contest, he said his players had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to remain in contention in the series.

Yet, Crawley stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach McCullum had remained in line with their prior tenure in charge.

"It's been very positive, unchanged," noted the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this game."

The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Ashes Triumph

The opener's wicket late on Saturday came during a crucial triple-strike by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.

Lyon's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a notional total of 435 runs.

Consequently, Australia require four wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an unassailable 3-0 advantage after three matches played.

A loss will extend the English team's winless run in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series defeat.

This series will be completed in just eleven days of cricket – with England losing the initial matches in rapid time each.

Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.

"It's disappointing," said Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."

"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.

"The challenge has been difficult. Australia is a formidable side. It was inevitably tough touring here against them. They were the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."

Pope's Position In Question

Although Crawley's performance in the third Test likely secures doubts about his immediate future in the side, Pope appears under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.

Pope was out for 17 in the team's second innings on day four, extending his modest returns versus Australia.

Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.

Only one other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.

But, Crawley said any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope originates with "you guys" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."

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

"He has produced several excellent innings. This is noise externally. There is no chat of that nature on Ollie in the camp," he concluded.