Zak Crawley Claims Ignorance of Stokes' Provocative 'Weak Men' Comments

The English opening batter Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements made by captain Stokes about the dressing room not being "those lacking fortitude".

The all-rounder delivered this message in multiple interviews in the wake of his team's defeat in the second Ashes series versus the Australians previously.

In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the playing group.

"I've done all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," said Stokes.

However, after Crawley made a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he commented: "I missed those remarks."

"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the press with some skepticism," he added.

Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging

The captain issued his "weak men" observation subsequent to his side were beaten in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.

The team afterwards went on a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.

Before this match, he said his players had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain alive in the series.

Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the guidance from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their prior three years in leadership.

"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," said Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat entering this game."

Australia On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory

The opener's wicket late on Saturday came during a crucial triple-strike by Australia spinner Lyon.

The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – meant England six down for 207 chasing a notional total of 435 runs.

This means, the home team require four wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an insurmountable three-nil lead with three Tests.

Defeat will extend the English team's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth straight overseas Ashes series loss.

The current battle is set to be decided in only eleven days of play – with England fell the initial matches in two and four days respectively.

Not since 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.

"It's disheartening," said the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."

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

"It's been tough. They're a very, very good side. It was always going to be hard coming here to face them. They were the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."

Pope's Place In Question

While Crawley's performance in Adelaide likely secures questions about his immediate future in the side, Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.

Pope fell for 17 in England's second innings on day four, extending his poor record versus Australia.

Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and averages just 17.62.

Only one other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and recorded a poorer average.

However, Crawley insisted any notion his teammate is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."

"We all know how good of a player he is," added Crawley. "He has had a good year to be frank."

"He has produced several excellent innings. It is noise from the outside. There is no chat of that nature on Ollie in the camp," he concluded.