Zak Crawley Unaware of Stokes' Provocative 'Frail Characters' Remarks
The English opener Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments from skipper Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".
Stokes made this message in multiple conversations in the wake of his team's defeat in the second Ashes series against Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors now face defeat with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had let his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the playing group.
"I have completed all the talking over the past two days that I required," said the England leader.
However, following the opener scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to England suffered a loss in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards went on a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third Tests.
Prior to this match, Stokes said his players had held "raw" conversations and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to remain alive in the Ashes battle.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their previous tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do something special going into this game."
Australia Close of Rapid Series Victory
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday came during a decisive triple-strike by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left England 207-6 in pursuit of a notional target of 435.
This means, the home team require just four more wickets on the final day to secure an insurmountable three-nil advantage after three matches played.
Defeat would prolong the English team's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth successive away Ashes series defeat.
The current battle will be completed in only eleven days of cricket – with England losing the initial matches in two and four days each.
Not since 1921, when Australia sealed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"It's disheartening," said the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been tough. They're a formidable side. It was always going to be tough coming here against them. They were the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Position In Question
While the opener's performance in Adelaide probably answers questions about his immediate place in the England team, Pope looks under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in England's second knock on Saturday, extending his poor record versus the old enemy.
In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.
Only one other English batsman in over a century – 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 his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added he. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year to be frank."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is talk externally. There's no discussion of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," he finished.
