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

The English opener Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments made by captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "weak men".

Stokes delivered this message in multiple conversations following England's loss in the second match of the Ashes against the Australians previously.

Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England now face defeat with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had allowed his message to "drift around" within the playing group.

"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.

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

"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. We take everything that is said in the press with some skepticism," Crawley continued.

Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy

The captain made the "weak men" comment subsequent to his side were beaten in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.

The team subsequently took a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming Tests.

Prior to this match, Stokes revealed his players had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay in contention in the series.

Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their prior tenure in leadership.

"It's been very positive, unchanged," said Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat going into this Test."

Australia Close of Rapid Series Victory

Crawley's wicket late on Saturday was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australian spinner Lyon.

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

This means, the home team require four wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an unassailable 3-0 advantage after three matches played.

Defeat would prolong England's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes loss.

This series is set to be decided in just eleven days of play – with England losing the first two Tests in rapid time each.

The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.

"This is disappointing," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're facing elimination at this point."

"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.

"It's been tough. Australia is a formidable side. It was inevitably hard touring here against them. They entered as the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."

Pope's Place In Question

Although the opener's performance in the third Test probably answers doubts about his short-term place in the side, Pope looks under threat for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.

The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in the team's second knock on day four, extending his poor record versus Australia.

In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and averages 17.62.

A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.

But, the opener insisted any notion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "you guys" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."

"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year if I'm honest."

"He has played some really good knocks. This is noise externally. There's no discussion like that regarding Pope amongst the players," he concluded.