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

England opening batter Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments from captain Stokes about the team environment as no place for "weak men".

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

Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the squad.

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

But, after Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."

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

Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy

Stokes made the "fragile individuals" comment after his side were beaten in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.

The England squad subsequently went on a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming matches.

Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his team had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to remain in contention in the series.

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

"It's been very positive, unchanged," said Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat entering this game."

Australia On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph

Crawley's wicket late on Saturday came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.

The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional target of 435 runs.

Consequently, the home team need four wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an insurmountable three-nil advantage after three Tests.

Defeat will extend England's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth straight away Ashes series loss.

The current battle is set to be decided in only 11 days of play – with England losing the first two Tests in two and four days each.

Not since 1921, when Australia sealed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.

"This is disheartening," said Crawley. "We came here to win the Ashes and we're facing elimination now."

"There remains plenty to play for and we will definitely view it like that," he continued.

"It's been tough. Australia is a formidable side. It was always going to be tough coming here to face them. They entered as the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."

Pope's Place In Question

While the opener's performance in the third Test probably answers doubts about his immediate place in the England team, Pope appears under threat for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.

The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in England's second knock on Saturday, adding to his poor record against Australia.

Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a half-century and averages 17.62.

Only one other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.

However, Crawley said any notion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."

"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added he. "He has had a productive year to be frank."

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