Zak Crawley Claims Ignorance of Stokes' Provocative 'Weak Men' Comments
England opener Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments made by skipper Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered those words in multiple interviews in the wake of his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes versus the Australians previously.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors now face a series loss with a match to spare, the captain stated he had allowed his message to "drift around" within the squad.
"I have completed all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
However, following the opener scored 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain issued his "weak men" comment subsequent to England suffered a loss in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently went on a break to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his team had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain alive in the series.
Yet, Crawley asserted the guidance from the captain and head coach McCullum had stayed in line with their previous tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," noted Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat going into this Test."
Australia Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's wicket late on Saturday came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a notional total of 435.
Consequently, Australia need four wickets on Sunday's final day to secure an insurmountable three-nil advantage after three Tests.
Defeat will extend England's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth successive overseas Ashes series loss.
The current battle will be completed in just 11 days of cricket – after England losing the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia sealed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been determined 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 staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it like that," he continued.
"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a very, very good side. It was inevitably tough touring here against them. They were the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's innings in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his immediate place in the side, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in England's second innings on Saturday, adding to his modest returns versus Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a half-century and averages 17.62.
A solitary other England player in over a century – Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in the Ashes and recorded a poorer average.
However, Crawley said any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "the media" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is talk from the outside. There is no chat like that on Ollie in the camp," Crawley finished.
