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

The English opener Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of statements from skipper Ben Stokes about the team environment as no place for "weak men".

The all-rounder delivered this message in several conversations in the wake of England's loss in the second match of the Ashes against Australia previously.

Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, the captain stated he had let 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 Stokes.

However, following Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "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 a pinch of salt," he added.

Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging

The captain made the "fragile individuals" observation after his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.

The team subsequently went on a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third matches.

Before the Adelaide contest, he revealed his players had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.

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

"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," noted Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do something special going into this game."

The Hosts Close of Rapid Ashes Triumph

The opener's wicket on day four was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.

Lyon's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – left England 207-6 chasing a notional target of 435 runs.

This means, Australia need four wickets on the last day to move to an insurmountable three-nil lead with three matches played.

Defeat would prolong the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series loss.

This series will be completed in just eleven days of play – after England losing the first two Tests in rapid time each.

The last time 1921, when Australia sealed victory in the UK 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.

"It's disheartening," said the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."

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

"The challenge has been difficult. They're a formidable team. It was always going to be hard coming here to face them. They were the favourites and they've proven why."

Pope's Place Under Scrutiny

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

The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in the team's second innings on day four, adding to his poor record versus the old enemy.

Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and averages 17.62.

A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and returned a lower average.

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

"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year if I'm honest."

"He has played several excellent innings. It is talk from the outside. There's no discussion of that nature regarding Pope amongst the players," he finished.