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

England opener Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments made by skipper Stokes about the team environment not being "weak men".

The all-rounder delivered this message in several conversations following England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series against Australia earlier this month.

In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" within the squad.

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

But, following Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I didn't see that."

"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.

Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging

The captain issued his "fragile individuals" observation subsequent to England suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.

The team subsequently took a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.

Prior to this match, he said his team had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain in contention in the series.

Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their prior three years in leadership.

"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with great liberty. It felt like we were capable of something special going into this game."

The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory

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

Lyon's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a notional target of 435 runs.

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

A loss would prolong England's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series defeat.

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

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

"It's disappointing," admitted Crawley. "We came here to win the Ashes and we're facing elimination at this point."

"There remains plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it like that," he continued.

"It's been tough. Australia is a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard touring here to face them. They entered as the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."

Ollie Pope's Place In Question

While the opener's performance in Adelaide probably answers questions about his immediate future in the England team, Ollie Pope looks under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.

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

Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has never made a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.

Only one other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has featured as many times in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.

However, the opener said any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."

"We all know how good of a player he is," added Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year to be frank."

"He has played several excellent innings. It is noise from the outside. There's no chat like that on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley concluded.