Crawley Claims Ignorance of Captain Stokes' Controversial 'Frail Characters' Comments

The English opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments made by skipper Stokes about the team environment not being "those lacking fortitude".

Stokes delivered this message in multiple conversations in the wake of England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes against Australia earlier this month.

In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had let his sentiment to "drift around" among the playing group.

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

But, following the opener 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. We take anything stated in the press with some skepticism," he added.

Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging

Stokes made the "weak men" observation subsequent to his side were beaten in Brisbane to go two matches behind.

The England squad subsequently took a break to a Queensland resort between the second and third matches.

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

Yet, Crawley stated the messaging from Stokes and coach McCullum had stayed in line with their previous three years in charge.

"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat going into this game."

The Hosts Close of Historic Series Victory

The opener's dismissal on day four came during a crucial triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.

The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a notional target of 435.

Consequently, the home team need four wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an unassailable 3-0 lead after three Tests.

A loss would prolong the English team's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth successive overseas Ashes series defeat.

The current battle is set to be decided in just 11 days of play – with England fell the first two Tests in rapid time each.

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

"This is disheartening," said the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're facing elimination now."

"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," he continued.

"It's been difficult. They're a formidable team. It was inevitably tough coming here against them. They were the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."

Pope's Place Under Scrutiny

Although Crawley's performance in the third Test likely secures doubts about his short-term place in the side, Pope looks under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.

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

In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a half-century and boasts an average of just 17.62.

A solitary other England player in over a century – Amiss – has played as many times in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.

But, the opener insisted any notion Pope is under the microscope comes from "you guys" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."

"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added he. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."

"He has produced some really good knocks. This is noise externally. There's no chat of that nature on Ollie in the camp," he finished.