Crawley Unaware of Stokes' Provocative 'Frail Characters' Remarks
England opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments from captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
Stokes made those words in several conversations following his team's defeat in the second Ashes series versus Australia earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had let his message to "drift around" within the playing group.
"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I required," said Stokes.
However, after the opener scored 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 media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "fragile individuals" observation subsequent to England suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.
The team afterwards went on a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before this match, Stokes revealed his team had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the guidance from the captain and head coach McCullum had stayed in line with their previous three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. It felt like we could do something special going into this Test."
The Hosts Close of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday came during a crucial triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side 207-6 chasing a daunting target of 435.
This means, the home team require just four more wickets on Sunday's final day to secure an unassailable three-nil advantage after three Tests.
Defeat would prolong England's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series defeat.
The current battle will be completed in only 11 days of cricket – after England fell the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.
"It's disappointing," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. Australia is a formidable side. It was inevitably hard coming here against them. They entered as the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's innings in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his short-term future in the England team, Ollie Pope looks under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in England's second knock on Saturday, adding to his modest returns against the old enemy.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and averages 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a lower average.
However, the opener insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."
"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 played some really good knocks. It is talk from the outside. There is no chat like that on Ollie in the camp," Crawley concluded.