England opener Zak Crawley has come under scrutiny for what were described as “staggering words” with his team on the brink of losing the Ashes in just 11 days.
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Crawley said the mood in the England dressing room was “flat” as they stared down the barrel of losing the Ashes within three Tests, admitting Australia were the better side.
England are still 228 runs adrift from the mammoth 435 the hosts set them to win in Adelaide with just four wickets left and a daunting task ahead on day five.
Should they lose, the five-match series will be decided with Tests in Melbourne and Sydney still to come after Australia won the opening two clashes in Perth and Brisbane by eight wickets.
“They’re just flat,” said Crawley, who hit a composed 85, of his teammates.
“We came here to win the Ashes, we’re always an optimistic team, an upbeat team, and we’ll try and put up as much fight as we can.
“Obviously very disappointing,” he added.
“It’s an uphill battle from here, but the boys are going to give it a good crack tomorrow.”
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But it was Crawley’s comments to the BBC, when asked if there were any positives to take away from the tour so far, that had Darren Lehmann and Jason Gillespie surprised.
Crawley replied that it would start with putting up a “really good fight” on Sunday with “two very good players” in Will Jacks and Jamie Smith at the crease, before declaring it would be a “pretty good series” if they were able to win the final two Tests.
“We’ll never give up,” Crawley said.
“The last two we haven’t won a Test here in a while so it’s a chance to win those two Tests. If we can get it back to 3-2, suddenly it’s a pretty good series. We were this close.
“In Perth and Brisbane at times we were right in it.
“This game, it was a huge toss for them to win with the way it’s spinning now. I’d probably swap both tosses that we won in the first two for this toss, and Stokesy is probably the same.
“There’s still plenty to play for always.”
That was a shock to hear for both Lehmann and Gillespie, reacting on ABC Sport’s Grandstand at Stumps.
“It was surprising, he almost gave up,” Lehmann said.
“Yes it’s starting to turn and it’s going to be tough work. I’m not saying they’re going to get there but what I was surprised about is almost they (Crawley) admitted defeat.”
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“I just found the words a bit staggering,” added Gillespie.
“You’re gonna be 3-nil down, ‘But if we win the last two Tests it’s 3-2 and that’s a pretty good tour’.
“No, I’m sorry. You lost the Ashes. That’s just nonsense talk.”
England headed to Australia with high hopes, but it has been mostly one-way traffic despite the series being hyped beforehand as having the hallmarks of being a classic.
Crawley admitted England had been outplayed by a better side.
“They’re a very, very good side. I feel like it was always going to be tough coming here, against them,” he said.
“They were the favourites going into it and they’ve proven why.
“Obviously we’ve been slightly short of our best, but a lot of credit has to go to them. They’ve not allowed us to be our best.”
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