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

The English opener Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments made by skipper Ben Stokes regarding the team environment not being "those lacking fortitude".

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

Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face defeat with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had let his message to "drift around" among the playing group.

"I have completed all the talking over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.

However, following Crawley scored 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I missed those remarks."

"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," he added.

Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy

The captain issued his "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to England suffered a loss in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.

The team subsequently went on a holiday to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.

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

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

"It's been very positive, unchanged," noted Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we could do something special entering this game."

The Hosts Close of Historic Series Victory

Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.

The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left England six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional target of 435.

This means, the home team require four wickets on Sunday's final day to secure an unassailable three-nil advantage after three matches played.

Defeat would prolong the English team's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth straight away Ashes series defeat.

This series is set to be decided in only 11 days of play – after England fell the first two Tests in rapid time each.

The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions 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 definitely view it with that mindset," Crawley added.

"The challenge has been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard coming here to face them. They were the front-runners and they've proven why."

Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny

Although the opener's performance in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his immediate place in the side, Ollie Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.

The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in England's second innings on Saturday, extending his modest returns against the old enemy.

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

A solitary other England player in over a century – Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.

However, Crawley said any notion Pope is being scrutinised originates with "you guys" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."

"We all know how good of a player he is," added Crawley. "He has had a productive year to be frank."

"He has produced several excellent innings. It is noise externally. There is no chat of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," he finished.