Zak Crawley Unaware of Stokes' Controversial 'Frail Characters' Remarks
The English opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments from captain Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder delivered those words in several interviews in the wake of his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes versus the Australians earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the playing group.
"I've done the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
But, after the opener made a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with some skepticism," he added.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
Stokes issued his "weak men" comment subsequent to England suffered a loss in Brisbane to go two matches behind.
The team subsequently took a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and third Tests.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he said his team had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain alive in the Ashes battle.
Yet, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their previous tenure in charge.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," noted the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. It felt like we could do something special going into this Test."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
The opener's wicket on day four came during a crucial triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – meant England 207-6 chasing a notional total of 435.
This means, Australia require just four more wickets on the last day to secure an unassailable three-nil advantage after three Tests.
Defeat will extend England's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth successive away Ashes series loss.
The current battle will be completed in only 11 days of cricket – with England losing the initial matches in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," said the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. Australia is a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard coming here to face them. They were the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
Although the opener's innings in the third Test probably answers questions about his short-term place in the England team, Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
Pope fell for 17 runs in the team's second innings on day four, extending his poor record versus the old enemy.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and boasts an average of just 17.62.
Only one other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top six in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
However, the opener insisted any notion Pope is under the microscope comes from "you guys" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has produced some really good knocks. It is noise externally. There's no chat like that on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley finished.
