Crawley Unaware of Captain Stokes' Provocative 'Frail Characters' Remarks
England opener Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments made by captain Ben Stokes about the team environment not being "weak men".
The all-rounder made this message in multiple interviews in the wake of his team's loss in the second Ashes against Australia previously.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, the captain noted he had let his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the squad.
"I have completed all the talking over the past two days that I required," remarked the England leader.
However, after the opener scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "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 a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain issued his "fragile individuals" observation subsequent to England suffered a loss in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The team subsequently went on a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third Tests.
Before this match, he revealed his players had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their previous tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," noted the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat going into this game."
Australia Close of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday was part of a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a notional target of 435.
This means, Australia need four wickets on the final day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 lead after three matches played.
A loss will extend the English team's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes loss.
This series is set to be decided in just eleven days of cricket – after England fell the initial matches in rapid time respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," said the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been tough. Australia is a very, very good team. It was inevitably tough coming here to face them. They were the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."
Pope's Place In Question
While the opener's performance in the third Test probably answers questions about his short-term place in the England team, Ollie Pope looks under threat for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
Pope was out for 17 in the team's second innings on Saturday, extending his poor record versus the old enemy.
In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and averages just 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and recorded a poorer average.
However, the opener insisted any suggestion Pope is under the microscope originates with "you guys" – referring to 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 good year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. It is noise externally. There's no discussion like that on Ollie in the camp," Crawley concluded.
