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

England opener Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments made by captain Stokes about the team environment as no place for "weak men".

Stokes delivered those words in several interviews in the wake of his team's loss in the second Ashes series against the Australians earlier this month.

In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, the captain noted he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the playing group.

"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.

But, after the opener scored 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 anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.

Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy

Stokes made the "weak men" observation 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 in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.

Prior to this match, he revealed his players had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain alive in the series.

Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the guidance from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their previous three years in leadership.

"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said 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 Test."

Australia Close of Historic Ashes Triumph

The opener's dismissal late on Saturday came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Lyon.

Lyon's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a daunting total of 435 runs.

This means, the home team require just four more wickets on the last day to secure an unassailable 3-0 lead with three matches played.

Defeat will extend the English team's drought in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series loss.

This series is set to be decided in only 11 days of cricket – with England fell the first two Tests in two and four days each.

Not since 1921, when Australia completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.

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

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

"It's been tough. They're a very, very good side. It was inevitably tough coming here to face them. They were the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."

Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny

Although the opener's performance in Adelaide likely secures questions about his short-term future in the England team, Pope appears under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.

The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in the team's second knock on Saturday, adding to his modest returns versus the old enemy.

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

Only one other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a lower average.

However, the opener insisted any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "the media" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."

"We all know of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year to be frank."

"He has produced several excellent innings. It is noise from the outside. There is no discussion like that regarding Pope amongst the players," he concluded.