Crawley Claims Ignorance of Captain Stokes' Provocative 'Frail Characters' Comments
England opener Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of statements from skipper Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered those words in multiple interviews in the wake of his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes against the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had allowed his message to "drift around" within the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," said Stokes.
However, following Crawley made 85 on the fourth 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 some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain made the "fragile individuals" observation subsequent to England suffered a loss in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently went on a holiday to Noosa in the gap between the second and third matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes said his team had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley stated the guidance from Stokes and coach McCullum had remained in line with their prior tenure in leadership.
"It's been very positive, the same as always," noted the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
The Hosts Close of Rapid Ashes Triumph
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday came during a crucial triple-strike by Australian spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side 207-6 chasing a daunting target of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team require four wickets on the last day to move to an unassailable three-nil advantage after three Tests.
A loss will extend the English team's winless run in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes series defeat.
The current battle will be completed in just 11 days of play – with England losing the initial matches in rapid time each.
The last time 1921, when Australia completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"It's disappointing," admitted Crawley. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," he continued.
"The challenge has been difficult. Australia is a very, very good side. It was inevitably tough touring here to face them. They were the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place In Question
Although Crawley's performance in the third Test probably answers doubts about his immediate place in the side, Ollie Pope looks under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in England's second knock on Saturday, adding to his poor record versus Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has never made a half-century and averages 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
But, Crawley insisted any notion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "the media" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year to be frank."
"He has played several excellent innings. It is talk from the outside. There is no discussion like that on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley finished.
