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

England opening batter Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments from captain Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "those lacking fortitude".

The all-rounder delivered those words in several interviews following England's defeat in the second Ashes versus Australia previously.

In the lead-up to the third Test, where England are staring at defeat with a match to spare, the captain stated he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" among the squad.

"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I required," said Stokes.

But, after Crawley made a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I missed those remarks."

"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.

Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging

The captain made the "weak men" observation subsequent to England suffered a loss in Brisbane to go two matches behind.

The England squad afterwards went on a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.

Prior to this match, Stokes revealed his players had held "raw" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay alive in the series.

Yet, Crawley asserted the guidance from the captain and coach McCullum had remained in line with their previous three years in charge.

"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat entering this Test."

Australia On the Verge of Historic Series Victory

The opener's dismissal on day four came during a decisive triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.

Lyon's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Brook and Stokes himself – meant England 207-6 chasing a daunting target of 435 runs.

Consequently, the home team need just four more wickets on the final day to move to an unassailable three-nil lead after three matches played.

A loss would prolong England's drought in this country to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth successive overseas Ashes series defeat.

The current battle is set to be decided in only eleven days of play – after England fell the initial matches in rapid time each.

The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the modern era.

"It's disappointing," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel now."

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

"It's been difficult. Australia is a formidable team. It was inevitably hard coming here against them. They entered as the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."

Ollie Pope's Position In Question

While Crawley's performance in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his short-term place in the side, Pope looks under threat for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.

Pope fell for 17 runs in the team's second knock on Saturday, adding to his poor record versus Australia.

In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has never made a fifty and averages 17.62.

A solitary other England player in over a century – Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.

However, the opener insisted any suggestion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."

"We all know how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year if I'm honest."

"He has produced some really good knocks. This is talk from the outside. There's no discussion of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," he finished.