Crawley Unaware of Captain Stokes' Controversial 'Frail Characters' Remarks

The English opener Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with statements from skipper Ben Stokes regarding the team environment not being "weak men".

Stokes delivered this message in several conversations following England's loss in the second Ashes series versus Australia earlier this month.

In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" among the playing group.

"I've done all the talking in recent days that I required," said the England leader.

But, following the opener scored a knock of 85 on the fourth 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 press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.

Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy

The captain made the "fragile individuals" comment after England were beaten in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.

The England squad subsequently took a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third Tests.

Before this match, Stokes said his team had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay alive in the series.

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

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

The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph

Crawley's wicket on day four came during a decisive triple-strike by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.

The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a notional target of 435.

This means, Australia need just four more wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an unassailable 3-0 advantage with three Tests.

A loss would prolong England's winless run in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes series loss.

This series is set to be decided in only 11 days of cricket – after England fell the initial matches in rapid time each.

Not since 1921, when Australia completed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.

"This is disappointing," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to regain 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 with that mindset," he continued.

"It's been difficult. Australia is a formidable team. It was inevitably hard touring here to face them. They were the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."

Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny

While the opener's innings in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his short-term future in the side, Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.

The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in England's second innings on day four, extending his modest returns versus Australia.

In sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.

Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.

But, the opener said any notion his teammate is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."

"We all know of his considerable talent," added he. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."

"He has produced some really good knocks. This is noise externally. There's no discussion like that regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley finished.