Crawley Unaware of Captain Stokes' Provocative '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 not being "those lacking fortitude".

Stokes delivered those words in multiple conversations in the wake of his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes versus the Australians earlier this month.

Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had allowed his message to "drift around" within the playing group.

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

However, following Crawley made a knock of 85 on the penultimate 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," Crawley continued.

Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging

The captain issued his "fragile individuals" observation subsequent to his side were beaten in the second Test to go two matches behind.

The team subsequently went on a break to a Queensland resort between the second and third matches.

Prior to this match, he revealed his players had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay in contention in the series.

Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their previous three years in leadership.

"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," said Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat entering this Test."

Australia Close of Rapid Series Victory

The opener's dismissal late on Saturday came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Lyon.

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

This means, Australia need just four more wickets on the final day to move to an unassailable three-nil lead after three matches played.

A loss will extend the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth straight away Ashes series defeat.

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

Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.

"It's disheartening," said Crawley. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."

"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," he continued.

"It's been tough. Australia is a formidable side. It was always going to be tough coming here to face them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."

Ollie Pope's Position In Question

Although Crawley's performance in the third Test probably answers questions about his immediate future in the England team, Pope looks under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.

The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in the team's second knock on day four, extending his modest returns against the old enemy.

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

Only one other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and recorded a poorer average.

But, Crawley insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."

"We all know how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year if I'm honest."

"He has produced some really good knocks. This is noise from the outside. There is no discussion like that regarding Pope in the camp," he finished.