Crawley Claims Ignorance of Stokes' Provocative 'Frail Characters' Comments

The English opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments made by captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "weak men".

The all-rounder made those words in multiple interviews in the wake of England's loss in the second Ashes against the Australians earlier this month.

Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" within the squad.

"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," said Stokes.

But, following the opener scored 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," he added.

Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging

Stokes made the "fragile individuals" observation after his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.

The team afterwards went on a holiday to Noosa between the second and third matches.

Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his players had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.

Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their prior tenure in leadership.

"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do something special going into this Test."

Australia Close of Rapid Series Victory

The opener's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Lyon.

The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a notional total of 435.

This means, Australia require four wickets on the last day to secure an unassailable 3-0 advantage with three matches played.

A loss would prolong England's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series loss.

The current battle will be completed in only eleven days of play – with England losing the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.

Not since 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.

"This is disheartening," admitted the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."

"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," Crawley added.

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

Ollie Pope's Place In Question

Although Crawley's performance in Adelaide probably answers questions about his immediate future in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.

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

In sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a half-century and boasts an average of just 17.62.

A solitary other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a lower average.

However, the opener insisted any notion his teammate is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."

"We all know how good of a player he is," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year if I'm honest."

"He has produced several excellent innings. This is talk externally. There's no chat like that regarding Pope amongst the players," he finished.