Crawley Unaware of Stokes' Provocative 'Frail Characters' Comments

England opening batter Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of statements from captain Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".

Stokes delivered those words in several interviews following England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes against the Australians earlier this month.

Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England now face defeat with a match to spare, the captain noted he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" within the playing group.

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

However, after Crawley made 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I missed those remarks."

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

Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging

Stokes made the "weak men" comment after his side were beaten in the second Test to go 2-0 down.

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

Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his team had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.

Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the guidance from the captain and coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their previous tenure in leadership.

"It's been very positive, unchanged," said Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat going into this Test."

The Hosts Close of Historic Series Victory

The opener's dismissal late on Saturday came during a decisive triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.

Lyon's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left England 207-6 chasing a notional target of 435 runs.

This means, Australia need just four more wickets on the final day to move to an unassailable 3-0 lead with three matches played.

Defeat will extend England's drought in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series loss.

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

Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided so quickly. The hosts have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.

"This is disheartening," said Crawley. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."

"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it like that," Crawley added.

"It's been difficult. Australia is a formidable team. It was inevitably hard touring here against them. They entered as the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."

Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny

While Crawley's performance in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his immediate future in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.

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

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

Only one other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.

However, Crawley said any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope originates with "the media" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."

"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said he. "He has had a productive year to be frank."

"He has played several excellent innings. It is noise externally. There is no chat of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," he concluded.