Crawley Unaware of Stokes' Controversial 'Frail Characters' Remarks

England opener Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of statements made by skipper Stokes about the team environment as no place for "weak men".

The all-rounder delivered this message in several conversations following England's loss in the second match of the Ashes versus the Australians earlier this month.

In the lead-up to the third Test, where England now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had allowed his message to "drift around" within the squad.

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

However, following the opener scored 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he stated: "I didn't see that."

"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 some skepticism," Crawley continued.

Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging

Stokes made the "fragile individuals" observation after England were beaten in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.

The team subsequently took a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.

Before this match, he said his players had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay alive in the series.

Yet, Crawley asserted the guidance from the captain and coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior tenure in leadership.

"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," said the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. It felt like we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this game."

The Hosts Close of Historic Ashes Triumph

The opener's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australian spinner Lyon.

The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a notional total of 435 runs.

This means, Australia need four wickets on the final day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 lead after three matches played.

A loss would prolong the English team's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes series loss.

The current battle will be completed in just 11 days of cricket – with England losing the initial matches in two and four days respectively.

The last time 1921, when Australia completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been determined so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.

"This is disheartening," admitted Crawley. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."

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

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

Ollie Pope's Position 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.

Pope fell for 17 in the team's second knock on day four, extending his modest returns against Australia.

Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a fifty and averages just 17.62.

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

However, Crawley said any notion his teammate is under the microscope originates with "the media" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."

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

"He has produced some really good knocks. It is noise externally. There is no discussion like that on Ollie in the camp," he finished.