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

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

Stokes delivered those words in multiple interviews following his team's loss in the second Ashes series versus the Australians earlier this month.

Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face a series loss with a match to spare, the captain stated he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" among the squad.

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

But, following the opener made a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he commented: "I missed those remarks."

"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. We take everything that is said in the media with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.

Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy

Stokes issued his "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to his side were beaten in the second Test to fall two matches behind.

The England squad afterwards went on a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.

Prior to this match, Stokes said his team had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain alive in the Ashes battle.

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

"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do something special going into this game."

The Hosts Close of Historic Series Victory

The opener's wicket on day four was part of a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Lyon.

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

This means, the home team need just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an insurmountable three-nil advantage with three matches played.

A loss will extend England's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes series defeat.

This series is set to be decided in only eleven days of play – with England fell the first two Tests in two and four days each.

Not since 1921, when Australia completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided so quickly. The hosts have also won in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.

"This is disheartening," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel now."

"There remains plenty to play for and we'll definitely view it like that," Crawley added.

"The challenge has been difficult. Australia is a formidable team. It was inevitably tough touring here to face them. They entered as the front-runners and they've proven why."

Pope's Position Under Scrutiny

Although the opener's performance in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his immediate place in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under threat for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.

The Surrey batsman was out for 17 in the team's second innings on Saturday, extending his poor record against Australia.

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

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

However, the opener insisted any suggestion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – meaning the journalists – "not inside the camp."

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

"He has produced several excellent innings. This is talk from the outside. There is no chat of that nature regarding Pope amongst the players," he concluded.