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

The English opener Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments made by skipper Ben Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "weak men".

Stokes delivered this message in several conversations in the wake of England's loss in the second Ashes series versus the Australians earlier this month.

Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the squad.

"I have completed all the talking over the past two days that I required," remarked the England leader.

However, following Crawley scored 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he commented: "I didn't see that."

"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take everything that is said in the press with some skepticism," he added.

Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging

The captain made the "weak men" comment subsequent to England were beaten in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.

The England squad afterwards took a holiday to Noosa in the gap between the second and third Tests.

Prior to this match, Stokes revealed his team had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain in contention in the series.

Yet, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior tenure in leadership.

"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat entering this Test."

Australia On the Verge of Historic Series Victory

Crawley's wicket on day four was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.

Lyon's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant England six down for 207 chasing a notional total of 435.

This means, Australia need four wickets on the last day to secure an unassailable 3-0 advantage with three matches played.

Defeat will extend the English team's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes series defeat.

The current battle will be completed in only 11 days of play – after England losing the initial matches in rapid time respectively.

The last time 1921, when Australia completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.

"This is disheartening," said Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel at this point."

"There will still be plenty to play for and we will definitely view it like that," Crawley added.

"The challenge has been difficult. Australia is a formidable team. It was inevitably hard touring here against them. They entered as the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."

Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny

While Crawley's performance in the third Test likely secures doubts about his short-term place in the England team, Ollie Pope looks under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.

Pope was out for 17 in England's second knock on day four, adding to his modest returns versus the old enemy.

In sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a fifty and averages 17.62.

Only one other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and recorded a lower average.

But, Crawley insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."

"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year if I'm honest."

"He has produced some really good knocks. This is talk externally. There's no discussion like that on Ollie in the camp," Crawley finished.