Crawley Claims Ignorance of Captain Stokes' Provocative 'Frail Characters' Comments

The English opener Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of statements from captain Stokes about the team environment not being "those lacking fortitude".

The all-rounder made this message in multiple conversations in the wake of his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes against Australia earlier this month.

In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the squad.

"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," remarked Stokes.

But, after the opener scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."

"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take anything stated in the media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.

Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging

The captain made the "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to England suffered a loss in Brisbane to go two matches behind.

The team subsequently took a break to Noosa between the second and third Tests.

Prior to this match, Stokes revealed his players had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.

Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the guidance from Stokes and head coach McCullum had remained in line with their prior three years in charge.

"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat entering this game."

Australia Close of Historic Series Victory

The opener's dismissal on day four came during a decisive triple-strike by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.

The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side 207-6 chasing a daunting target of 435.

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

A loss will extend England's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth straight overseas Ashes series loss.

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

Not since 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been determined more swiftly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.

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

"There remains plenty to play for and we will certainly approach it like that," he continued.

"It's been tough. Australia is a formidable team. It was inevitably tough coming here to face them. They were the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."

Pope's Position Under Scrutiny

Although Crawley's performance in the third Test probably answers doubts about his short-term place in the England team, Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.

The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in the team's second knock on Saturday, adding to his modest returns versus Australia.

Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a half-century and averages just 17.62.

A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and returned a lower average.

However, the opener said any notion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "the media" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."

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

"He has produced several excellent innings. It is noise from the outside. There's no discussion like that regarding Pope in the camp," he finished.