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

England opening batter Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements from skipper Stokes regarding the team environment not being "weak men".

Stokes made those words in several interviews following England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes against the Australians previously.

Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, the captain noted he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" within the playing group.

"I've done the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.

But, following the opener made 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."

"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with some skepticism," he added.

Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging

Stokes issued his "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to England suffered a loss in the second Test to fall two matches behind.

The England squad subsequently took a break to Noosa between the second and the upcoming Tests.

Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes said his team had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.

Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the messaging from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their prior three years in leadership.

"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat going into this game."

The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Series Victory

The opener's dismissal on day four was part of a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Lyon.

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

This means, Australia require four wickets on the final day to secure an insurmountable three-nil lead after three Tests.

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

This series will be completed in just eleven days of play – with England losing the initial matches in rapid time each.

The last time 1921, when the Australians completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.

"It's disheartening," admitted Crawley. "We came here to regain the Ashes and we're facing elimination at this point."

"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will definitely view it with that mindset," Crawley added.

"It's been tough. Australia is a formidable side. It was always going to be hard touring here against them. They were the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."

Ollie Pope's Place In Question

Although Crawley's innings in the third Test probably answers 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 was out for 17 in England's second knock on Saturday, extending his modest returns against the old enemy.

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

Only one other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.

However, Crawley insisted any suggestion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – meaning the journalists – "not inside the camp."

"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," added he. "He has had a productive year to be frank."

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