Zak Crawley Unaware of Stokes' Provocative 'Weak Men' Comments

The English opening batter Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments made by captain Ben Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".

Stokes delivered this message in several interviews following his team's loss in the second Ashes series versus the Australians earlier this month.

Ahead of the third Test, where England now face defeat with a match to spare, the captain noted he had allowed his message to "drift around" within the playing group.

"I've done all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.

However, after the opener scored 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I didn't see that."

"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.

Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging

The captain issued his "fragile individuals" observation subsequent to England were beaten in the second Test to go 2-0 down.

The team subsequently went on a break to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming matches.

Before this match, he revealed his players had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay in contention in the series.

Yet, the Kent batsman asserted the guidance from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior tenure in charge.

"It's been very positive, the same as always," said Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. It felt like we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this game."

The Hosts Close of Rapid Ashes Triumph

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

Lyon's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side 207-6 chasing a notional target of 435.

Consequently, Australia require four wickets on Sunday's final day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 lead after three matches played.

A loss would prolong England's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes series loss.

The current battle is set to be decided in only eleven days of play – after England fell the initial matches in two and four days respectively.

The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.

"This is disappointing," admitted the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel at this point."

"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it like that," Crawley added.

"It's been difficult. Australia is a formidable side. It was always going to be hard coming here to face them. They entered as the favourites coming in to it they've proven why."

Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny

Although the opener's performance in Adelaide probably answers questions about his immediate future in the side, Ollie Pope appears under threat for his position in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.

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

In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a half-century and averages just 17.62.

Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top six in the Ashes and returned a lower average.

However, Crawley insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."

"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year if I'm honest."

"He has played some really good knocks. It is noise from the outside. There's no chat like that regarding Pope in the camp," Crawley concluded.