Crawley Claims Ignorance of Stokes' Provocative 'Weak Men' Comments
England opener Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments from captain Ben Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".
The all-rounder made those words in several interviews following his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes versus the Australians earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face defeat with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" within the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," said Stokes.
But, following the opener made a knock of 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. We take everything that is said in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain issued his "weak men" comment after England suffered a loss in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently went on a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and third 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 messaging from Stokes and head coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do something special going into this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Brook and Stokes himself – left England 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435.
This means, Australia need just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an insurmountable three-nil lead after three Tests.
Defeat will extend the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes series loss.
This series will be completed in only eleven days of cricket – after England losing the initial matches in rapid time each.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we will definitely view it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been difficult. They're a very, very good team. It was always going to be tough touring here to face them. They entered as the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's innings in the third Test probably answers questions about his short-term future in the side, Pope looks under threat for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in the team's second knock on Saturday, extending his poor record against Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.
However, Crawley insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," added Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year to be frank."
"He has played several excellent innings. It is talk from the outside. There's no discussion like that regarding Pope in the camp," Crawley concluded.