Crawley Claims Ignorance of Stokes' Controversial 'Frail Characters' Comments

The English opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements made by captain Ben Stokes regarding the team environment as no place for "those lacking fortitude".

The all-rounder delivered this message in several conversations following his team's defeat in the second Ashes versus the Australians previously.

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

"I've done all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.

But, following the opener scored 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he commented: "I missed those remarks."

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

Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging

The captain issued his "weak men" comment subsequent to England were beaten in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.

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

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

Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the messaging from Stokes and head coach McCullum had stayed in line with their previous three years in charge.

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

Australia Close of Historic Ashes Triumph

Crawley's wicket on day four was part of a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.

The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435 runs.

This means, Australia need four wickets on the final day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 lead with three Tests.

Defeat would prolong England's winless run in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes loss.

The current battle will be completed in just 11 days of play – with England fell the first two Tests in two and four days each.

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

"It's disappointing," said Crawley. "Our goal was to win 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 like that," Crawley added.

"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a very, very good team. It was always going to be tough coming here against them. They were the favourites coming in to it they've proven why."

Ollie Pope's Position In Question

While Crawley's performance in the third Test likely secures questions about his short-term future in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.

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

Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and averages 17.62.

Only one other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has featured as many times in the top six in Ashes Tests and recorded a lower average.

But, Crawley insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised originates with "you guys" – referring to the press – "not inside the camp."

"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year if I'm honest."

"He has produced some really good knocks. This is noise externally. There is no discussion like that on Ollie amongst the players," he concluded.