Zak Crawley Claims Ignorance of Stokes' Provocative 'Frail Characters' Comments
England opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements made by captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered this message in several interviews in the wake of England's defeat in the second Ashes versus the Australians previously.
Ahead of the third Test, where England now face a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" within the playing group.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," remarked the England leader.
But, following the opener scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, 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," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
The captain made the "weak men" observation after his side were beaten in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The team afterwards went on a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Prior to this match, he revealed his team had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay alive in the series.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from the captain and head coach McCullum had remained consistent with their prior three years in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted the opener. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we could do something special entering this game."
The Hosts Close of Rapid Ashes Triumph
The opener's wicket late on Saturday came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – meant England six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional total of 435 runs.
This means, the home team require just four more wickets on the final day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 lead after three matches played.
A loss will extend England's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes series defeat.
This series will be completed in just eleven days of play – with England fell the initial matches in rapid time respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in England in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been determined so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"It's disheartening," said Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we will certainly approach it like that," he continued.
"It's been tough. Australia is a formidable side. It was always going to be tough coming here against them. They were the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
Although the opener's performance in the third Test probably answers doubts about his short-term place in the England team, Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in the team's second innings on Saturday, extending his modest returns against Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has never made a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
Only one other England player in over a century – Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
However, the opener said any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope originates with "the media" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."
"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 produced several excellent innings. This is talk externally. There's no chat like that on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
