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

England opener Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments from skipper Stokes about the dressing room not being "those lacking fortitude".

The all-rounder made this message in several interviews in the wake of his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes against Australia earlier this month.

Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England now face defeat with a match to spare, the captain stated he had let his sentiment to "drift around" among the squad.

"I've done all the talking in recent days that I required," said the England leader.

However, following Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he stated: "I didn't see that."

"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.

Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy

The captain made the "weak men" observation after England suffered a loss in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.

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

Before this match, Stokes said his team had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay in contention in the series.

Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the messaging from the captain and coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior three years in charge.

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

The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Series Victory

The opener's wicket on day four came during a crucial triple-strike by Australian spinner Lyon.

Lyon's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – meant England six down for 207 chasing a daunting target of 435 runs.

This means, the home team need four wickets on the last day to move to an unassailable 3-0 lead after three Tests.

A loss will extend the English team's winless run in this country to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth straight overseas Ashes loss.

The current battle is set to be decided in only eleven days of play – after England losing the initial matches in two and four days each.

The last time 1921, when Australia completed a series win in England in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.

"It's disheartening," said Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."

"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," he continued.

"It's been difficult. Australia is a very, very good side. It was inevitably hard touring here against them. They were the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."

Ollie Pope's Position In Question

While Crawley's performance in the third Test probably answers questions about his short-term place in the side, Pope appears under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.

The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in the team's second knock on Saturday, adding to his modest returns against Australia.

In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a half-century and boasts an average of just 17.62.

A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.

However, Crawley said any notion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."

"We all know how good of a player he is," said he. "He has had a good year to be frank."

"He has produced some really good knocks. It is noise from the outside. There's no chat like that on Ollie amongst the players," he concluded.