Zak Crawley Unaware of Stokes' Controversial 'Frail Characters' Remarks

The English opening batter Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with statements made by skipper Ben Stokes about the team environment as no place for "those lacking fortitude".

Stokes delivered those words in multiple conversations in the wake of England's defeat in the second Ashes against the Australians previously.

In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had let his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the playing group.

"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I required," said Stokes.

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

"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with some skepticism," he added.

Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging

Stokes made the "weak men" comment after England suffered a loss in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.

The England squad subsequently took a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.

Before the Adelaide contest, he said his players had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.

Yet, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their previous tenure in leadership.

"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we were capable of something special entering this Test."

The Hosts Close of Rapid Series Victory

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

Lyon's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a daunting total of 435.

Consequently, Australia need just four more wickets on the final day to secure an insurmountable three-nil advantage 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 away Ashes series defeat.

The current battle will be completed in only 11 days of play – with England fell the initial matches in rapid time respectively.

Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined more swiftly. The hosts have also won in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.

"This is disheartening," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel now."

"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.

"The challenge has been tough. They're a formidable team. It was always going to be hard coming here against them. They were the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."

Pope's Place Under Scrutiny

While the opener's innings in the third Test probably answers doubts about his short-term place in the side, Pope appears under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.

The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in the team's second knock on day four, extending his modest returns against the old enemy.

In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.

A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.

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

"We all know of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year if I'm honest."

"He has produced several excellent innings. It is noise from the outside. There's no discussion like that on Ollie in the camp," Crawley finished.