Zak Crawley Unaware of Captain Stokes' Provocative 'Weak Men' Remarks

The English opening batter Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of statements from captain Ben Stokes regarding the team environment not being "weak men".

Stokes delivered this message in several interviews following his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series versus the Australians earlier this month.

In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England now face 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 the England leader.

However, following the opener scored 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he stated: "I didn't see that."

"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.

Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging

The captain made the "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to his side were beaten in the second Test to go 2-0 down.

The England squad subsequently went on a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third matches.

Before the Adelaide contest, he revealed his players had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.

Nevertheless, Crawley stated the messaging from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior tenure in leadership.

"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we were capable of something special going into this game."

Australia Close of Historic Series Victory

Crawley's wicket on day four came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.

Lyon's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional total of 435.

This means, Australia need just four more wickets on Sunday's final day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 lead after three matches played.

A loss will extend the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes series defeat.

This series is set to be decided in just eleven days of play – with England fell the initial matches in rapid time each.

The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.

"This is disheartening," said the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."

"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.

"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a formidable team. It was always going to be tough coming here against them. They entered as the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."

Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny

Although the opener's innings in the third Test probably answers questions about his short-term future in the side, Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.

The Surrey batsman was out for 17 in the team's second innings on day four, adding to his modest returns versus the old enemy.

Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.

Only one other England player in over a century – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and recorded a lower average.

However, the opener insisted any suggestion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."

"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year to be frank."

"He has played several excellent innings. This is noise externally. There's no discussion like that regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley concluded.