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

The English opening batter Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments made by captain Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "those lacking fortitude".

Stokes delivered those words in multiple interviews in the wake of England's loss in the second match of the Ashes versus the Australians earlier this month.

In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had let his message to "circulate freely" within the squad.

"I have completed all the talking over the past two days that I required," said Stokes.

But, following Crawley made a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he commented: "I didn't see that."

"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.

Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging

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

The England squad afterwards went on a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.

Before this match, Stokes said his team had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain in contention in the series.

Yet, Crawley stated the guidance from Stokes and coach McCullum had stayed in line with their prior three years in leadership.

"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," said the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. It felt like we were capable of an extraordinary feat entering this Test."

Australia Close of Historic Ashes Triumph

Crawley's wicket on day four came during a decisive triple-strike by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.

The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435.

This means, the home team require just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an unassailable 3-0 advantage with three matches played.

Defeat will extend the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes defeat.

The current battle is set to be decided in only eleven days of play – after England losing the initial matches in two and four days each.

The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.

"This is disheartening," admitted Crawley. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."

"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.

"It's been difficult. Australia is a formidable side. It was always going to be hard coming here to face them. They entered as the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."

Pope's Position Under Scrutiny

Although the opener's performance in Adelaide probably answers questions about his short-term future in the England team, Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.

The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in England's second innings on day four, extending his poor record versus Australia.

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

Only one other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.

However, Crawley insisted any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope originates with "the media" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."

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

"He has played some really good knocks. It is noise from the outside. There's no chat of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley finished.