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

England opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of statements made by skipper Ben Stokes regarding the team environment as no place for "weak men".

The all-rounder delivered this message in multiple interviews following England's defeat in the second Ashes against the Australians previously.

In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, Stokes stated he had let his message to "drift around" within the playing group.

"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I required," remarked the England leader.

But, following the opener scored a knock of 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. We take anything stated in the media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.

Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging

Stokes made the "fragile individuals" observation after his side were beaten in Brisbane to go two matches behind.

The England squad afterwards took a holiday to Noosa between the second and third matches.

Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his players had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay alive in the Ashes battle.

Yet, Crawley stated the messaging from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior tenure in charge.

"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said the opener. "It's just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do something special entering this game."

The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Series Victory

The opener's wicket late on Saturday came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.

The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left England 207-6 chasing a daunting total of 435.

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

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

The current battle will be completed in just eleven days of cricket – with England fell the first two Tests in two and four days each.

The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.

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

"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it like that," he continued.

"It's been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard touring here to face them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."

Pope's Place Under Scrutiny

Although Crawley's innings in the third Test probably answers doubts about his immediate place in the side, Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.

Pope was out for 17 runs in the team's second innings on Saturday, extending his poor record against the old enemy.

In sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a fifty and averages just 17.62.

Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has played as many times in the top six in Ashes Tests and recorded a lower average.

But, the opener insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."

"We all know of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "He has had a good year to be frank."

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