Zak Crawley Unaware of Captain Stokes' Provocative 'Frail Characters' Remarks

England opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of statements made by skipper Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "weak men".

Stokes made this message in multiple conversations in the wake of England's defeat in the second Ashes versus Australia earlier this month.

Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had let his message to "drift around" within the playing group.

"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I required," remarked Stokes.

But, after Crawley made 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I didn't see that."

"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," he added.

Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy

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

The England squad subsequently went on a break to a Queensland resort between the second and third Tests.

Prior to the Adelaide contest, he said his players had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.

Nevertheless, Crawley stated the guidance from the captain and head coach McCullum had remained consistent with their prior three years in leadership.

"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," said the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do something special going into this game."

The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory

The opener's wicket on day four was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Lyon.

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

This means, Australia need four wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 advantage after three matches played.

A loss would prolong the English team's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth straight away Ashes series defeat.

The current battle is set to be decided in only 11 days of play – after England fell the first two Tests in rapid time each.

Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided so quickly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.

"This is disappointing," said the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."

"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it like that," he continued.

"The challenge has been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was always going to be hard coming here against them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."

Pope's Place Under Scrutiny

While the opener's performance in the third Test likely secures doubts about his immediate future in the England team, Pope appears under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.

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

In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and averages just 17.62.

A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and recorded a poorer average.

But, Crawley said any suggestion Pope is under the microscope comes from "you guys" – referring to the press – "not inside the camp."

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

"He has produced some really good knocks. It is talk externally. There is no discussion of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," he finished.