Crawley Unaware of Stokes' Provocative 'Frail Characters' Comments

England opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with statements made by captain Stokes about the team environment as no place for "those lacking fortitude".

Stokes delivered those words in multiple conversations in the wake of his team's defeat in the second Ashes series against Australia previously.

Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors now face a series loss with a match to spare, the captain stated he had let 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 the opener scored a knock of 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 press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.

Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging

Stokes made the "fragile individuals" observation after England suffered a loss in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.

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

Prior to this match, he revealed his players had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.

Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from the captain and coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior three years in leadership.

"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do something special going into this Test."

The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Ashes Triumph

The opener's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Lyon.

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

Consequently, the home team need four wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an unassailable three-nil lead with three matches played.

Defeat would prolong the English team's winless run in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series defeat.

The current battle will be completed in just eleven days of play – with England fell the initial matches in rapid time each.

The last time 1921, when Australia completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.

"It's disappointing," said the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and we're facing elimination now."

"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it like that," he continued.

"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a formidable side. It was inevitably hard coming here against them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."

Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny

Although the opener's performance in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his short-term place in the England team, Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.

Pope was out for 17 in England's second innings on day four, adding to his poor record against Australia.

Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a half-century and averages 17.62.

Only one other England player since 1900 – 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 comes from "you guys" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."

"We all know how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year to be frank."

"He has played some really good knocks. It is talk from the outside. There's no discussion of that nature on Ollie in the camp," Crawley concluded.