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

The English opener Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements from skipper Ben Stokes about the dressing room not being "those lacking fortitude".

Stokes delivered those words in several conversations in the wake of England's loss in the second Ashes versus 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 let his sentiment to "drift around" among the squad.

"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," said Stokes.

However, 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. Our approach is to take anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.

Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy

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

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

Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his players had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay in contention in the series.

Nevertheless, Crawley stated the messaging from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior tenure in leadership.

"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with great liberty. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat going into this Test."

Australia Close of Rapid Ashes Triumph

The opener's wicket late on Saturday came during a crucial triple-strike by Australia spinner Lyon.

Lyon's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side 207-6 chasing a notional total of 435.

This means, Australia need four wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an unassailable three-nil advantage with three matches played.

A loss would prolong the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes series loss.

The current battle is set to be decided in only 11 days of cricket – after England losing the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.

Not since 1921, when the Australians completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.

"This is disappointing," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel now."

"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will definitely view it like that," Crawley added.

"It's been tough. Australia is a formidable side. It was inevitably hard coming 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 probably answers doubts about his immediate future in the England team, Pope appears under threat for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.

Pope fell for 17 runs in England's second knock on day four, extending his poor record versus the old enemy.

In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has never made a fifty and averages just 17.62.

A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in the Ashes and recorded a poorer average.

However, Crawley insisted any suggestion Pope is being scrutinised originates with "you guys" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."

"We all know of his considerable talent," said he. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."

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