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

England opener Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements made by captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "weak men".

The all-rounder made this message in several conversations following his team's defeat in the second Ashes against Australia previously.

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

"I've done the necessary discussions in recent days that I required," said Stokes.

But, following Crawley made 85 on the fourth 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 everything that is said in the press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.

Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy

The captain issued his "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to England suffered a loss in the second Test to go two matches behind.

The team afterwards went on a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming matches.

Before this match, Stokes said his team had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay alive in the Ashes battle.

Yet, Crawley asserted the guidance from the captain and head coach McCullum had stayed in line with their previous tenure in leadership.

"It's been very positive, unchanged," noted Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat going into this Test."

Australia Close of Historic Series Victory

The opener's wicket on day four was part of a crucial three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.

The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left England 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435 runs.

Consequently, Australia require just four more wickets on the last day to move to an insurmountable three-nil advantage after three matches played.

A loss will extend the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth successive away Ashes series loss.

This series is set to be decided in just 11 days of play – after England losing the initial matches in rapid time respectively.

The last time 1921, when the Australians completed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.

"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 plenty to play for and we will certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.

"It's been difficult. Australia is a formidable team. It was inevitably hard coming here to face them. They were the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."

Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny

While the opener's performance in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his short-term future in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his position 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 Australia.

In sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and averages 17.62.

Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in the Ashes and recorded a lower average.

However, the opener said any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "you guys" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."

"The squad is fully aware 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 noise externally. There is no discussion of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," he concluded.