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

The English opening batter Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with statements made by skipper Ben Stokes regarding the team environment not being "those lacking fortitude".

Stokes delivered this message in several conversations in the wake of his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series against Australia earlier this month.

Ahead of the third Test, where England now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" within the playing group.

"I have completed all the talking in recent days that I required," said the England leader.

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 anything stated in the press with some skepticism," Crawley continued.

Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging

The captain made the "weak men" comment subsequent to his side suffered a loss in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.

The team afterwards took a break to a Queensland resort between the second and third matches.

Prior to this match, he said his team had held "honest" 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 guidance from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their prior three years in leadership.

"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said the opener. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. It felt like we could do something special entering this Test."

Australia Close of Historic Ashes Triumph

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

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

This means, Australia need four wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 advantage with three matches played.

A loss will extend England's drought in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes series defeat.

This series is set to be decided in only eleven days of play – with England fell the initial matches in two and four days respectively.

The last time 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.

"This is disappointing," said Crawley. "We came here 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.

"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a very, very good team. It was always going to be hard coming here to face them. They entered as the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."

Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny

While the opener's innings in the third Test probably answers doubts about his short-term place in the England team, Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.

The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in England's second innings on day four, extending his poor record against Australia.

Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.

A solitary other England player in over a century – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.

But, the opener insisted any notion Pope is under the microscope originates with "the media" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."

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

"He has played several excellent innings. This is talk externally. There is no discussion of that nature regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley concluded.