Zak Crawley Unaware of Stokes' Controversial 'Weak Men' Remarks

The English opener Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements made by skipper Stokes regarding the team environment not being "weak men".

The all-rounder delivered those words in several conversations in the wake of England's loss in the second match of the Ashes against the Australians previously.

Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" within the squad.

"I have completed all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.

But, after Crawley 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 some skepticism," Crawley continued.

Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging

The captain issued his "fragile individuals" comment after his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.

The England squad afterwards went on a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.

Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his players had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay in contention in the series.

Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from the captain and head coach McCullum had remained consistent with their previous tenure in leadership.

"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat entering this game."

The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Ashes Triumph

The opener's wicket on day four came during a decisive triple-strike by Australian spinner Lyon.

The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Stokes himself – left England 207-6 in pursuit of a notional total of 435 runs.

Consequently, Australia require just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an unassailable three-nil advantage with three Tests.

Defeat will extend England's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth successive overseas Ashes defeat.

The current battle is set to be decided in just 11 days of play – with England losing the initial matches in two and four days respectively.

Not since 1921, when Australia completed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.

"This is disheartening," said the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."

"There remains plenty to play for and we will certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.

"The challenge has been difficult. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard touring here against them. They were the favourites coming in to it they've proven why."

Pope's Place In Question

Although the opener's performance in the third Test likely secures doubts about his short-term future in the side, Ollie Pope looks under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.

The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in England's second knock on Saturday, adding to his poor record versus the old enemy.

In sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.

Only one other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played as many times in the top six in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.

However, the opener said any notion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "you guys" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."

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

"He has played some really good knocks. This is talk from the outside. There is no chat like that on Ollie in the camp," he finished.