Crawley Unaware of Stokes' Provocative 'Frail Characters' Remarks

England opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of statements made by captain Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".

The all-rounder made those words in multiple interviews in the wake of England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series versus the Australians earlier this month.

In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face defeat with a match to spare, the captain stated he had let his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the playing group.

"I have completed all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.

But, after the opener made 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he stated: "I didn't see that."

"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take everything that is said in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.

Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy

Stokes made the "weak men" observation after his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.

The team afterwards went on a break to Noosa between the second and the upcoming matches.

Before this match, he revealed his team had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.

Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach McCullum had remained consistent with their prior tenure in charge.

"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat entering this Test."

Australia Close of Rapid Series Victory

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

The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435.

Consequently, Australia need just four more wickets on the last day to move to an unassailable three-nil advantage with three Tests.

A loss will extend England's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth straight away Ashes series loss.

The current battle will be completed in only eleven days of cricket – with England fell the initial matches in rapid time respectively.

Not since 1921, when Australia completed 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 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.

"This is disheartening," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel now."

"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.

"It's been difficult. Australia is a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard coming here to face them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."

Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny

Although Crawley's innings in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his short-term future in the side, Ollie Pope looks under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.

Pope was out for 17 runs in the team's second innings on day four, adding to his poor record against the old enemy.

Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a half-century and averages just 17.62.

A solitary other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.

However, Crawley insisted any suggestion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – meaning the journalists – "not inside the camp."

"We all know how good of a player he is," said he. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."

"He has played some really good knocks. It is talk from the outside. There is no chat of that nature regarding Pope amongst the players," he concluded.