Zak Crawley Unaware of Captain Stokes' Controversial 'Frail Characters' Comments

England opener Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments made by captain Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "weak men".

Stokes made those words in several conversations following England's loss in the second Ashes series versus Australia previously.

Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" among the playing group.

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

However, following Crawley made a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he commented: "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 media with some skepticism," he added.

Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging

Stokes issued his "weak men" observation subsequent to his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.

The team subsequently took a holiday to Noosa between the second and the upcoming matches.

Prior to this match, Stokes said his players had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay alive in the Ashes battle.

Yet, Crawley stated the guidance from the captain and coach McCullum had remained in line with their previous tenure in leadership.

"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we could do something special entering this Test."

The Hosts Close of Rapid Ashes Triumph

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

Lyon's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435.

This means, the home team need just four more wickets on the final day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 lead with three matches played.

A loss would prolong England's winless run in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes loss.

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

Not since 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.

"This is disheartening," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel at this point."

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

"It's been difficult. They're a formidable team. It was inevitably tough touring here against them. They were the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."

Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny

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

Pope fell for 17 runs in England's second innings on day four, adding to his modest returns against the old enemy.

In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has never made a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.

Only one other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.

However, the opener insisted any suggestion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."

"We all know how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year to be frank."

"He has produced several excellent innings. It is talk externally. There is no discussion of that nature on Ollie in the camp," he concluded.