Crawley Unaware of Stokes' Provocative 'Frail Characters' Comments

England opener Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments from captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "weak men".

Stokes delivered this message in multiple conversations following his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes versus Australia previously.

Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" among the squad.

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

But, following the opener scored 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he commented: "I missed those remarks."

"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take anything stated in the media with some skepticism," he added.

Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy

Stokes issued his "fragile individuals" observation after his side were beaten in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.

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

Before this match, he revealed his players had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain alive in the Ashes battle.

Yet, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their previous three years in leadership.

"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat going into this Test."

Australia On the Verge of Historic Series Victory

Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.

Lyon's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a notional target of 435 runs.

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

A loss will extend England's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth successive away Ashes series defeat.

This series is set to be decided in only eleven days of play – with England losing the initial matches in two and four days each.

Not since 1921, when Australia completed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.

"This is disheartening," said Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel now."

"There remains plenty to play for and we will definitely view it with that mindset," he continued.

"The challenge has been tough. They're a very, very good side. It was always going to be hard touring here to face them. They entered as the favourites coming in to it they've proven why."

Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny

While the opener's innings in Adelaide probably answers questions about his immediate place in the England team, Pope looks under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.

Pope was out for 17 runs in the team's second innings on day four, extending his poor record versus the old enemy.

In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and averages 17.62.

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

But, Crawley said any notion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – referring to the press – "not inside the camp."

"We all know how good of a player he is," added he. "He has had a good year to be frank."

"He has played some really good knocks. This is noise externally. There's no chat like that on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley concluded.