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

The English opening batter Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of statements from captain Ben Stokes about the team environment as no place for "those lacking fortitude".

Stokes made this message in several conversations in the wake of England's loss in the second match of the Ashes versus Australia earlier this month.

Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, the captain noted he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the squad.

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

But, following the opener scored 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 everything that is said in the media with some skepticism," he added.

Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging

The captain made the "fragile individuals" observation after his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.

The team afterwards went on a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.

Before this match, Stokes said his team had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay alive in the Ashes battle.

Nevertheless, Crawley stated the guidance from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their prior three years in charge.

"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this Test."

Australia Close of Historic Ashes Triumph

Crawley's wicket late on Saturday came during a crucial triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.

The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional target of 435.

This means, Australia need just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an unassailable three-nil advantage after three matches played.

A loss will extend England's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes defeat.

The current battle is set to be decided in only 11 days of play – after England losing the initial matches in rapid time each.

Not since 1921, when the Australians completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined so quickly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.

"It's disappointing," admitted the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."

"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.

"It's been difficult. Australia is a very, very good side. It was inevitably hard touring here against them. They entered as the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."

Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny

Although the opener's performance in the third Test likely secures questions about his short-term future in the England team, Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.

Pope was out for 17 in England's second knock on day four, adding to his poor record versus the old enemy.

Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.

A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.

But, the opener said any notion his teammate is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."

"We all know of his considerable talent," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year to be frank."

"He has produced several excellent innings. This is noise externally. There is no discussion like that regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley concluded.