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

The English opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments made by skipper Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".

Stokes made those words in multiple conversations following his team's loss in the second Ashes versus the Australians previously.

Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat with a match to spare, the captain stated he had let his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the squad.

"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," said the England leader.

However, after Crawley scored 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he stated: "I missed those remarks."

"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take everything that is said in the press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.

Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy

The captain issued his "fragile individuals" comment after his side were beaten in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.

The England squad subsequently went on a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third Tests.

Prior to this match, he said his team had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay alive in the series.

Yet, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their previous three years in leadership.

"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do something special going into this game."

The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory

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

Lyon's three wickets in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435 runs.

Consequently, the home team require just four more wickets on the final day to secure an unassailable 3-0 lead after three Tests.

Defeat would prolong England's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes series loss.

The current battle will be completed in just eleven days of play – after England losing the initial matches in two and four days each.

Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the modern era.

"This is disheartening," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."

"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it like that," Crawley added.

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

Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny

Although the opener's innings in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his immediate future in the side, Ollie Pope appears under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.

The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in England's second knock on Saturday, extending his poor record against Australia.

In sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.

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

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

"We all know of his considerable talent," added he. "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 of that nature on Ollie in the camp," Crawley finished.