Zak Crawley Unaware of Captain Stokes' Provocative 'Weak Men' Comments
England opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments made by captain Stokes regarding the team environment as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder made those words in multiple conversations following England's defeat in the second Ashes series against the Australians previously.
Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes stated he had let his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," remarked the England leader.
However, following the opener scored 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take everything that is said in the press with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
The captain issued his "weak men" observation subsequent to his side were beaten in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The team afterwards went on a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third Tests.
Before the Adelaide contest, he said his team had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their previous three years in charge.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," noted Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat entering this game."
Australia Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's dismissal on day four came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional target of 435 runs.
This means, Australia need four wickets on Sunday's final day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 advantage after three matches played.
Defeat would prolong the English team's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes series loss.
The current battle will be completed in only eleven days of play – with England losing the first two Tests in rapid time each.
The last time 1921, when Australia sealed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," said Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been tough. Australia is a very, very good side. It was inevitably tough touring here to face them. They entered as the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position In Question
While the opener's performance in Adelaide likely secures questions about his short-term future in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under threat for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 runs in England's second knock on day four, extending his modest returns versus the old enemy.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and averages just 17.62.
Only one other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has featured as many times in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
However, the opener insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised originates with "you guys" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is noise externally. There's no chat of that nature regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley finished.
