Crawley Unaware of Captain Stokes' Controversial 'Frail Characters' Remarks
The English opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with statements made by skipper Ben Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered those words in multiple conversations in the wake of his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series versus Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes stated he had allowed his message to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I needed to have done," said Stokes.
But, following Crawley made 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. We take everything that is said in the media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
The captain made the "weak men" comment after his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.
The team subsequently went on a holiday to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before this match, he revealed his players had held "raw" talks 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 asserted the messaging from Stokes and head coach McCullum had stayed in line with their previous three years in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with great liberty. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat going into this game."
Australia Close of Rapid Ashes Triumph
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435.
This means, the home team need just four more wickets on Sunday's final day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 advantage with three Tests.
Defeat would prolong the English team's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series loss.
This series will be completed in only eleven days of play – with England fell the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," said the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was always going to be hard touring here to face them. They entered as the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While the opener's innings in Adelaide probably answers questions about his immediate place in the England team, Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in the team's second innings on Saturday, adding to his poor record against the old enemy.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
Only one other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.
But, the opener said any notion Pope is being scrutinised originates with "you guys" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," added he. "He has had a productive year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is noise from the outside. There's no chat of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," he concluded.
