Crawley Claims Ignorance of Captain Stokes' Controversial 'Frail Characters' Remarks

The English opening batter Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments from skipper Ben Stokes about the team environment not being "those lacking fortitude".

Stokes made this message in several interviews in the wake of his team's loss in the second Ashes versus Australia previously.

In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, the captain noted he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the playing group.

"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," said the England leader.

However, after Crawley scored 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I didn't see that."

"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.

Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy

Stokes made the "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to his side were beaten in the second Test to fall two matches behind.

The England squad afterwards took a holiday to Noosa between the second and third Tests.

Prior to this match, Stokes said his players had held "raw" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay in contention in the series.

Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the guidance from the captain and coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior tenure in leadership.

"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat going into this game."

The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory

The opener's wicket late on Saturday was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Lyon.

Lyon's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left England 207-6 in pursuit of a notional target of 435 runs.

This means, Australia require four wickets on the last day to secure an unassailable 3-0 lead with three Tests.

Defeat will extend England's drought in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes series defeat.

This series will be completed in only 11 days of cricket – with England losing the initial matches in two and four days each.

The last time 1921, when Australia completed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.

"This is disappointing," said Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."

"There remains plenty to play for and we will certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.

"It's been tough. They're a formidable side. It was inevitably hard coming here against them. They were the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."

Ollie Pope's Place In Question

While Crawley's innings in Adelaide probably answers questions about his short-term place in the England team, Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.

Pope was out for 17 runs in England's second innings on Saturday, extending his poor record against Australia.

Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.

A solitary other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has featured as many times in the top six in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.

But, the opener said any notion his teammate is under the microscope originates with "you guys" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."

"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year if I'm honest."

"He has played several excellent innings. It is talk externally. There's no chat like that on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley concluded.