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

England opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments made by skipper Ben Stokes regarding the team environment as no place for "weak men".

The all-rounder made this message in multiple interviews following his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series versus the Australians earlier this month.

In the lead-up to the third Test, where England now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes stated he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the squad.

"I've done all the talking in recent days that I required," said Stokes.

However, following the opener scored 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, 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," he added.

Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging

The captain made the "fragile individuals" comment after England were beaten in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.

The England squad subsequently took a break to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming matches.

Before this match, Stokes said his players had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.

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

"It's been very positive, unchanged," noted Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat entering this game."

The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph

Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Lyon.

The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Ben Stokes – left England 207-6 chasing a notional total of 435 runs.

This means, Australia need four wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 lead after three matches played.

A loss would prolong England's drought in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes loss.

This series is set to be decided in only 11 days of play – with England losing the first two Tests in rapid time each.

The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.

"This is disappointing," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."

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

"It's been difficult. Australia is a formidable side. 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

While the opener's performance in Adelaide probably answers questions about his short-term future in the England team, Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.

Pope fell for 17 in England's second innings on day four, extending his poor record against Australia.

Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and boasts an average of just 17.62.

Only one other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top six in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.

However, Crawley insisted any suggestion Pope is being scrutinised originates with "you guys" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."

"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year to be frank."

"He has produced several excellent innings. This is noise from the outside. There's no chat of that nature on Ollie in the camp," he concluded.