Crawley Claims Ignorance of Captain Stokes' Controversial 'Weak Men' Remarks

The English opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of statements made by captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "weak men".

Stokes delivered those words in several interviews in the wake of his team's defeat in the second Ashes versus Australia previously.

Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face a series loss with a match to spare, the captain stated he had let his message to "circulate freely" among the squad.

"I have completed all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.

But, following the opener made a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he commented: "I didn't see that."

"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. We take anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.

Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging

The captain issued his "weak men" comment subsequent to England were beaten in Brisbane to go two matches behind.

The team afterwards took a holiday to Noosa between the second and the upcoming Tests.

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

Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from the captain and coach McCullum had remained in line with their prior three years in charge.

"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," noted Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we were capable of something special going into this Test."

The Hosts Close of Rapid Series Victory

Crawley's dismissal on day four came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australian off-spinner Lyon.

Lyon's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435 runs.

Consequently, Australia require four wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an unassailable 3-0 advantage with three Tests.

Defeat would prolong England's winless run in this country to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth successive away Ashes series defeat.

The current battle is set to be decided in only eleven days of play – with England fell the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.

The last time 1921, when Australia completed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been determined more swiftly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.

"This is disheartening," said Crawley. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."

"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," he continued.

"The challenge has been tough. They're a very, very good side. It was always going to be hard coming here to face them. They entered as the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."

Ollie Pope's Position In Question

While the opener's innings in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his immediate future in the England team, Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.

The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in the team's second innings on Saturday, extending his poor record against the old enemy.

In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.

A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and returned a lower average.

However, Crawley said any notion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."

"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said he. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."

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