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

The English opening batter Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with statements made by captain Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "weak men".

The all-rounder made this message in multiple conversations in the wake of his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes series versus the Australians previously.

In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had let his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the playing group.

"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.

However, following the opener scored 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he commented: "I didn't see that."

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

Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging

Stokes issued his "fragile individuals" observation after England suffered a loss in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.

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

Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his team had held "raw" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay alive in the Ashes battle.

Yet, Crawley asserted the messaging from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their prior three years in leadership.

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

Australia Close of Rapid Series Victory

Crawley's wicket on day four was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Lyon.

Lyon's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435.

This means, Australia need four wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an unassailable three-nil lead with three Tests.

Defeat will extend England's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series defeat.

This series is set to be decided in only eleven days of cricket – with England losing the initial matches in rapid time respectively.

The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.

"It's disappointing," said Crawley. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."

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

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

Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny

While Crawley's performance in Adelaide likely secures questions about his short-term future in the England team, Ollie Pope looks under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.

The Surrey batsman was out for 17 in the team's second innings on Saturday, extending his poor record versus Australia.

Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a fifty and averages 17.62.

A solitary other England player in over a century – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.

But, the opener insisted any notion Pope is under the microscope comes from "you guys" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."

"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," added he. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."

"He has produced several excellent innings. This is noise from the outside. There's no discussion like that on Ollie in the camp," he finished.