Crawley Unaware of Captain Stokes' Provocative 'Frail Characters' Comments

England opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of statements made by captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "those lacking fortitude".

Stokes delivered those words in several interviews in the wake of England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes versus Australia previously.

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

"I have completed all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.

But, following Crawley scored a knock of 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 anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.

Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging

Stokes issued his "fragile individuals" observation after his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.

The England squad subsequently went on a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming Tests.

Prior to this match, he revealed his team had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain alive in the series.

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

"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do something special entering this game."

The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Series Victory

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

Lyon's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant England 207-6 in pursuit of a notional total of 435.

Consequently, Australia need four wickets on Sunday's final day to secure an insurmountable three-nil advantage after three matches played.

A loss would prolong the English team's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth straight overseas Ashes loss.

The current battle is set to be decided in only 11 days of cricket – after England losing the first two Tests in two and four days each.

Not since 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.

"It's disheartening," said the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."

"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.

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

Ollie Pope's Position In Question

Although Crawley's performance in Adelaide likely secures questions about his immediate place in the England team, Pope appears under threat for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.

The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in the team's second innings on day four, extending his modest returns versus the old enemy.

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

A solitary other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.

But, Crawley said any notion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."

"We all know of his considerable talent," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year to be frank."

"He has produced some really good knocks. This is noise externally. There's no chat of that nature on Ollie in the camp," he finished.