Crawley Claims Ignorance of Captain Stokes' Provocative 'Frail Characters' Comments

England opening batter Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments made by captain Ben Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".

The all-rounder delivered those words in multiple conversations following England's loss in the second match of the Ashes series versus Australia earlier this month.

Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at defeat with a match to spare, the captain stated he had let his message to "circulate freely" among the squad.

"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.

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

"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take everything that is said in the media with a pinch of salt," he added.

Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging

The captain issued his "weak men" comment after England were beaten in Brisbane to go two matches behind.

The team subsequently went on a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming matches.

Before the Adelaide contest, he 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.

Yet, Crawley asserted the messaging from the captain and coach McCullum had stayed in line with their prior tenure in charge.

"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," noted the opener. "It's just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this game."

The Hosts Close of Rapid Ashes Triumph

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

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

Consequently, the home team need just four more wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an unassailable 3-0 advantage with three matches played.

Defeat will extend England's winless run in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes defeat.

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

Not since 1921, when Australia sealed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.

"This is disheartening," said Crawley. "We came here to win the Ashes and we're facing elimination now."

"There remains significant pride at stake and we will definitely view it with that mindset," Crawley added.

"The challenge has been difficult. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard touring here against them. They were the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."

Ollie Pope's Position In Question

While Crawley's performance in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his short-term future in the side, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.

The Surrey batsman was out for 17 in the team's second knock on day four, extending his poor record against the old enemy.

In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a half-century and averages 17.62.

Only one other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played as many times in the top six in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.

But, Crawley insisted any suggestion Pope is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."

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

"He has produced several excellent innings. This is noise from the outside. There is no chat of that nature on Ollie in the camp," Crawley concluded.