Zak Crawley Unaware of Captain Stokes' Provocative 'Frail Characters' Comments
The English opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments from skipper Ben Stokes about the team environment not being "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder delivered this message in multiple interviews in the wake of England's loss in the second match of the Ashes series against the Australians previously.
Ahead of the third Test, where England are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
However, after the opener scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take everything that is said in the media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "weak men" comment subsequent to England were beaten in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.
The team subsequently took a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his team had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay alive in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, Crawley stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach McCullum had remained consistent with their previous three years in charge.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
Australia Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's wicket on day four came during a crucial triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435 runs.
This means, the home team need four wickets on the final day to move to an unassailable 3-0 lead with three matches played.
A loss will extend the English team's winless run in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes defeat.
This series will be completed in just 11 days of play – after England losing the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined more swiftly. The hosts have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," said Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we will definitely view it like that," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been difficult. Australia is a very, very good side. It was always going to be hard coming here to face them. They were the favourites coming in to it they've proven why."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's performance in Adelaide likely secures questions about his short-term future in the England team, Pope looks under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in England's second innings on Saturday, extending his poor record versus Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a half-century and averages 17.62.
A solitary other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.
However, the opener insisted any notion his teammate is being scrutinised originates with "you guys" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," added Crawley. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is noise externally. There's no chat like that regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley finished.
