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

England opening batter Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of statements from captain Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "weak men".

The all-rounder made those words in multiple conversations in the wake of his team's defeat in the second Ashes versus Australia earlier this month.

Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat with a match to spare, the captain stated he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the squad.

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

But, following Crawley scored 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he stated: "I missed those remarks."

"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.

Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging

Stokes issued his "weak men" comment after his side suffered a loss in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.

The team afterwards took a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and third matches.

Prior to this match, Stokes revealed his players had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.

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

"It's been very positive, the same as always," noted the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we could do something special entering this game."

The Hosts Close of Rapid Ashes Triumph

Crawley's wicket late on Saturday came during a decisive triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.

The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – left England 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435 runs.

Consequently, the home team need four wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an insurmountable three-nil lead after three Tests.

Defeat would prolong England's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes loss.

The current battle will be completed in only 11 days of cricket – after England fell the initial matches in two and four days respectively.

The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.

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

"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.

"It's been difficult. They're a formidable side. It was inevitably hard touring here against them. They were the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."

Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny

While the opener's innings in the third Test probably answers doubts about his short-term place in the side, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.

Pope fell for 17 runs in the team's second innings on Saturday, extending his modest returns against Australia.

Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.

A solitary other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top six in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.

But, Crawley said any suggestion his teammate is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – referring to the press – "not inside the camp."

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

"He has played several excellent innings. It is talk from the outside. There's no chat like that regarding Pope in the camp," he finished.