Zak Crawley Unaware of Stokes' Provocative 'Frail Characters' Remarks

The English opener Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with statements made by captain Ben Stokes regarding the team environment as no place for "weak men".

Stokes delivered those words in multiple interviews following his team's defeat in the second Ashes series against the Australians previously.

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

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

However, following Crawley scored 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."

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

Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy

Stokes made the "weak men" comment subsequent to his side were beaten in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.

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

Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes said his players had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay alive in the series.

Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the guidance from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their previous three years in leadership.

"It's been very positive, the same as always," said Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat going into this Test."

Australia Close of Rapid Ashes Triumph

The opener's wicket on day four was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australia spinner Lyon.

The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant England six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional target of 435.

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

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

This series is set to be decided in only 11 days of cricket – with England losing the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.

The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.

"This is disheartening," admitted Crawley. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."

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

"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard coming here against them. They entered as the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."

Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny

While the opener's innings in Adelaide likely secures questions about his immediate future in the side, Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.

Pope fell for 17 runs in England's second knock on Saturday, adding to his poor record versus Australia.

Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a fifty and averages 17.62.

A solitary other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has featured as many times in the top six in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.

But, Crawley insisted any notion Pope is under the microscope comes from "the media" – referring to 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 to be frank."

"He has played several excellent innings. It is noise from the outside. There's no chat of that nature on Ollie in the camp," Crawley concluded.