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

England opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements made by captain Ben Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".

Stokes delivered this message in multiple interviews in the wake of England's loss in the second Ashes against the Australians earlier this month.

Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes stated he had allowed his message to "drift around" among the playing group.

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

However, following Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I didn't see that."

"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the media with some skepticism," he added.

Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy

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

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

Before this match, he said his team had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay alive in the Ashes battle.

Yet, Crawley stated the guidance from the captain and coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their previous tenure in charge.

"It's been very positive, the same as always," said the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of something special entering this game."

The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Ashes Triumph

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

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

This means, the home team need four wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an insurmountable three-nil advantage with three matches played.

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

This series will be completed in just 11 days of cricket – after England losing the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.

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

"It's disheartening," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel at this point."

"There will still be plenty to play for and we will certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.

"It's been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was always going to be hard touring here against them. They were the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."

Pope's Position Under Scrutiny

While Crawley's performance in Adelaide likely secures questions about his immediate place in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.

Pope was out for 17 in the team's second innings on Saturday, adding to his poor record versus the old enemy.

Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and averages 17.62.

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

However, Crawley said any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "the media" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."

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

"He has produced several excellent innings. It is talk externally. There is no discussion of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley concluded.