Crawley Unaware of Captain Stokes' Controversial 'Weak Men' Comments

England opener Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments made by skipper Stokes about the team environment as no place for "those lacking fortitude".

The all-rounder delivered those words in multiple interviews in the wake of England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series against Australia previously.

In the lead-up to the third Test, where England now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had allowed his message to "drift around" among the playing group.

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

But, after Crawley made a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he stated: "I didn't see that."

"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take everything that is said in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.

Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging

Stokes made the "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to his side suffered a loss in the second Test to go 2-0 down.

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

Prior to the Adelaide contest, he said his team had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay alive in the series.

Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from the captain and coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their previous tenure in charge.

"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," said the opener. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat going into this game."

Australia Close of Rapid Ashes Triumph

Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australia spinner Lyon.

The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – left England 207-6 in pursuit of a notional target of 435.

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

Defeat will extend the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth successive overseas Ashes series defeat.

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

Not since 1921, when Australia completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.

"It's disappointing," said Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."

"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," he continued.

"It's been tough. Australia is a very, very good team. It was inevitably tough touring here against them. They were the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."

Pope's Position In Question

While the opener's performance in the third Test likely secures questions about his immediate future in the side, Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.

The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in England's second knock on Saturday, extending his modest returns against Australia.

In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and averages 17.62.

Only one other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.

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

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

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