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

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

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

Ahead of the third Test, where England are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes stated he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" within the playing group.

"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," said the England leader.

But, after the opener scored 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, 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 a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.

Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging

The captain issued his "fragile individuals" comment after England were beaten in the second Test to fall two matches behind.

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

Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes said his team had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.

Yet, the Kent batsman asserted the guidance from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their prior three years in leadership.

"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we were capable of something special entering this Test."

Australia Close of Historic Ashes Triumph

The opener's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.

Lyon's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant England 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435 runs.

This means, Australia require four wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an unassailable three-nil advantage with three matches played.

A loss will extend the English team's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth straight overseas Ashes defeat.

The current battle is set to be decided in only 11 days of cricket – after England fell the first two Tests in two and four days each.

Not since 1921, when Australia completed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.

"This is disheartening," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're facing elimination now."

"There remains plenty to play for and we'll definitely view it like that," 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 entered as the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."

Pope's Position Under Scrutiny

While the opener's performance in the third Test probably answers questions about his short-term place in the side, Pope looks under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.

Pope fell for 17 runs in the team's second knock on day four, adding to his poor record versus the old enemy.

In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and boasts an average of just 17.62.

A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and returned a lower average.

But, the opener insisted any notion Pope is under the microscope originates with "the media" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."

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

"He has produced some really good knocks. This is noise externally. There's no chat of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," he concluded.