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

The English opening batter Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments from skipper Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "weak men".

The all-rounder delivered those words in several conversations in the wake of his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes against the Australians previously.

In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had allowed his message to "drift around" within the playing group.

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

But, 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. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.

Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy

The captain made the "weak men" observation subsequent to England suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.

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

Before the Adelaide contest, he revealed his players had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay alive in the series.

Yet, the Kent batsman asserted the guidance from the captain and head coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior tenure in leadership.

"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," noted Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we were capable of something special going into this game."

Australia On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory

Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.

Lyon's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant England six down for 207 chasing a daunting total of 435 runs.

Consequently, the home team require just four more wickets on the final day to secure an insurmountable three-nil advantage with three matches played.

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

The current battle is set to be decided in only eleven days of cricket – with England losing the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.

The last time 1921, when the Australians completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.

"This is disappointing," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."

"There remains plenty to play for and we will certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.

"The challenge has been difficult. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably tough coming here to face them. They were the front-runners and they've proven why."

Pope's Place In Question

Although the opener's performance in Adelaide probably answers questions about his immediate future in the England team, Ollie Pope looks under threat for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.

The Surrey batsman was out for 17 in England's second knock on day four, extending his poor record against Australia.

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

A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.

However, Crawley insisted any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "the media" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."

"We all know of his considerable talent," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year if I'm honest."

"He has produced some really good knocks. It is noise externally. There is no discussion like that regarding Pope in the camp," Crawley concluded.