ADELAIDE, Dec 20 (Reuters) - England opener Zak Crawley said Australia had shown why they were favourites coming into the Ashesafter a tough day four at Adelaide Oval left the tourists staring down the barrel of a series defeat on Saturday.
Chasing a world record 435 runs to win, England were reduced to 207 for six by stumps and needing a miracle to avoid another loss following defeats in Perth and Brisbane.
Australia have not lost a test on home soil to England in 15 years, and Crawley said it was easy to see why.
"Obviously, we're staring down the barrel so it's disappointing right now," he told reporters after scoring 85.
"They're a very, very good side. I feel like it was always going to be tough coming up here against them.
"They were the favourites going into (the series), and they've proven why they were.
"They played very, very well and made it very hard for us.
"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."
England are 228 runs short of their victory target, with Will Jacks (two not out) and Jamie Smith (11 not out) tasked with continuing the fight on a day-five pitch that can only grow tougher to bat on.
After starting with a pair of ducks in the series-opener in Perth, Crawley rallied with 76 and 44 in Brisbane, and carried England's hopes late on day four in Adelaide until he was stumped off the bowling of Nathan Lyon, who triggered a late collapse with a burst of 3-17.
A number of Crawley's teammates have struggled with the bat including number three Ollie Pope, who was caught in the slips for 17 on Saturday after managing three in the first innings.
Pope has an average of 20.83 for the series so far, with his meagre returns and some soft dismissals raising questions about his place in the test setup.
Crawley, however, said he could not understand the scrutiny on Pope, saying he was an "unbelievably good player who plays in a hard role".
"I feel like Pope gets ... a hard time sometimes," he added of the Surrey righthander.
"I'm trying to work out why -- he's played really well in the last year. He's got big hundreds when we need him to against tough opposition.
"Obviously he's wanted more from himself than he's got but we can't underestimate some of the good knocks he's played."
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
