Crawley Claims Ignorance of Stokes' Controversial 'Weak Men' Comments

The English opener Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments made by skipper Ben Stokes regarding the team environment not being "those lacking fortitude".

Stokes made those words in several conversations in the wake of his team's loss in the second Ashes series against the Australians previously.

Ahead of the third Test, where England now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the playing group.

"I've done the necessary discussions in recent days that I required," remarked the England leader.

However, following the opener scored a knock of 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 media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.

Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy

Stokes issued his "fragile individuals" observation after his side were beaten in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.

The England squad afterwards took a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third Tests.

Before the Adelaide contest, he said his team had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to remain alive in the series.

Yet, Crawley stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their previous three years in leadership.

"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat entering this game."

The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Series Victory

Crawley's wicket on day four came during a crucial triple-strike by Australia spinner Lyon.

The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435.

Consequently, Australia need four wickets on the final day to secure an unassailable 3-0 advantage after three Tests.

Defeat will extend England's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth straight overseas Ashes series loss.

This series will be completed in only eleven days of play – after England losing the initial matches in two and four days each.

Not since 1921, when Australia sealed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.

"It's disappointing," admitted the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."

"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll definitely view it like that," he continued.

"The challenge has been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was always going to be hard touring here against them. They entered as the front-runners and they've proven why."

Ollie Pope's Place In Question

Although the opener's innings in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his immediate future in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.

The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in England's second innings on Saturday, extending his poor record versus the old enemy.

Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.

A solitary other England player in over a century – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and returned a lower average.

However, the opener insisted any suggestion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."

"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said he. "He has had a good year to be frank."

"He has produced several excellent innings. It is noise externally. There is no chat like that on Ollie in the camp," he concluded.