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

England opening batter Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements made by captain Ben Stokes about the team environment as no place for "weak men".

The all-rounder made those words in multiple interviews in the wake of England's loss in the second Ashes versus Australia earlier this month.

Ahead of the third Test, where England now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes stated he had let his sentiment to "drift around" within the playing group.

"I've done all the talking in recent days that I required," remarked Stokes.

However, following the opener scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, 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 media with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.

Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy

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

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

Before this match, he said his team had held "raw" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain in contention in the series.

Yet, Crawley asserted the messaging from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their prior three years in charge.

"It's been very positive, the same as always," said the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we could do something special going into this Test."

Australia On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory

Crawley's dismissal on day four came during a decisive triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Lyon.

The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a notional target of 435 runs.

Consequently, Australia require four wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an insurmountable three-nil lead after three Tests.

Defeat will extend the English team's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes series loss.

The current battle will be completed in only 11 days of cricket – with England fell the initial matches in two and four days each.

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

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

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

"The challenge has been difficult. Australia is a formidable team. It was always going to be hard coming here to face them. They were the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."

Pope's Position Under Scrutiny

While the opener's performance in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his short-term future in the side, Ollie Pope looks under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.

Pope fell for 17 in England's second knock on day four, adding to his poor record versus Australia.

Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a half-century and averages just 17.62.

A solitary other English batsman 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 notion Pope is under the microscope originates with "you guys" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."

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

"He has played several excellent innings. This is talk from the outside. There's no discussion like that on Ollie amongst the players," he concluded.