Crawley Unaware of Stokes' Provocative 'Frail Characters' Remarks

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

Stokes made this message in several interviews in the wake of his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes series versus Australia previously.

Ahead of the third Test, where England now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had let his message to "circulate freely" among the squad.

"I have completed all the talking over the past two days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.

However, after Crawley made 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. We take everything that is said in the press with some skepticism," Crawley continued.

Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging

The captain made the "weak men" comment after his side were beaten in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.

The team subsequently went on a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.

Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes said his players had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay in contention in the series.

Yet, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior three years in charge.

"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we could do something special entering this Test."

The Hosts Close of Rapid Series Victory

The opener's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Lyon.

The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435 runs.

This means, Australia need four wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an unassailable 3-0 lead after three matches played.

A loss would prolong the English team's winless run in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes loss.

The current battle will be completed in just eleven days of cricket – with England fell the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.

The last time 1921, when Australia sealed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined more swiftly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the modern era.

"This is disheartening," said the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."

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

"It's been tough. They're a very, very good side. It was always going to be hard coming here to face them. They were the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."

Pope's Place In Question

While Crawley's innings in Adelaide probably answers questions about his short-term 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 England's second innings on day four, adding to his modest returns against Australia.

Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.

Only one other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and recorded a poorer average.

But, the opener insisted any notion his teammate is under the microscope originates with "the media" – meaning the journalists – "not inside the camp."

"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year if I'm honest."

"He has played several excellent innings. This is talk externally. There is no chat of that nature on Ollie in the camp," Crawley finished.