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

England opener Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments from captain Stokes about the dressing room not being "those lacking fortitude".

The all-rounder delivered this message in several conversations following England's loss in the second match of the Ashes versus the Australians earlier this month.

Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat with a match to spare, the captain noted he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" among the squad.

"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.

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

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

Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging

The captain made the "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to England suffered a loss in Brisbane to go two matches behind.

The team afterwards took a break to Noosa 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 asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to remain in contention in the series.

Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the messaging from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their previous tenure in leadership.

"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat entering this Test."

Australia Close of Historic Series Victory

The opener's dismissal on day four came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.

Lyon's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left England six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435 runs.

Consequently, the home team require just four more wickets on the final day to secure an insurmountable three-nil lead after three Tests.

A loss would prolong the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth successive overseas Ashes loss.

This series is set to be decided in only eleven days of cricket – with England losing the initial matches in two and four days respectively.

Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.

"It's disheartening," said the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."

"There will still be plenty to play for and we will definitely view it with that mindset," he continued.

"The challenge has been tough. They're a formidable side. It was always going to be tough touring here to face them. They were the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."

Pope's Place Under Scrutiny

While Crawley's performance in the third Test probably answers questions about his immediate future in the side, Pope looks under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.

The Surrey batsman was out for 17 in the team's second innings on day four, adding to his poor record against Australia.

Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a half-century and averages 17.62.

Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has featured as many times in the top six in Ashes Tests and recorded a lower average.

However, Crawley insisted any notion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "the media" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."

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

"He has played some really good knocks. This is noise externally. There is no chat like that on Ollie amongst the players," he finished.