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

The English opener Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of statements made by captain Ben Stokes about the dressing room not being "those lacking fortitude".

Stokes delivered those words in several interviews in the wake of England's defeat in the second Ashes series against Australia earlier this month.

Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had let his sentiment to "drift around" within the playing group.

"I've done all the talking 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 the third Test, he commented: "I missed those remarks."

"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the press with some skepticism," he added.

Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging

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

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

Prior to this match, he said his team had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to remain alive in the series.

Yet, Crawley asserted the guidance from the captain and head coach McCullum had remained in line with their previous three years in charge.

"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," said the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we were capable of something special going into this Test."

Australia On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory

Crawley's dismissal on day four was part of a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Lyon.

The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Stokes himself – left England 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435.

Consequently, Australia require four wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 advantage with three Tests.

A loss would prolong the English team's winless run in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series loss.

This series is set to be decided in just eleven days of play – with England fell the initial matches in rapid time each.

Not since 1921, when the Australians completed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.

"This is disappointing," said the batsman. "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 will certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.

"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a very, very good team. It was always going to be tough coming here to face them. They were the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."

Ollie Pope's Position In Question

Although Crawley's innings in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his immediate future in the side, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.

Pope was out for 17 in the team's second innings on day four, adding to his poor record versus Australia.

In sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and averages just 17.62.

Only one other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has featured as many times in the top six in Ashes Tests and recorded a lower average.

However, the opener said any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "the media" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."

"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added he. "He has had a good year to be frank."

"He has played some really good knocks. This is noise externally. There's no chat like that on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley finished.