Zak Crawley Claims Ignorance of Captain Stokes' Provocative 'Weak Men' Comments

The English opener Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments made by captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".

Stokes made this message in several conversations following England's loss in the second Ashes versus Australia previously.

Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors now face defeat with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the playing group.

"I've done the necessary discussions in recent days that I required," said Stokes.

However, following the opener made a knock of 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he stated: "I missed those remarks."

"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the press with some skepticism," he added.

Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging

Stokes made the "fragile individuals" comment after his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to go two matches behind.

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

Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes said his team had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay alive in the Ashes battle.

Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the guidance from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their prior tenure in leadership.

"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this Test."

Australia Close of Historic Series Victory

The opener's wicket on day four was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.

The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435.

Consequently, the home team require four wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an unassailable three-nil lead after three Tests.

Defeat will extend England's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes series loss.

The current battle is set to be decided in only eleven days of cricket – after England fell the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.

Not since 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.

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

"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.

"It's been tough. Australia is a very, very good side. It was inevitably tough touring here against them. They were the front-runners 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 short-term place in the side, Pope appears under threat for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.

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

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

A solitary other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and recorded a lower average.

However, Crawley said any suggestion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – meaning the journalists – "not inside the camp."

"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "He has had a good year to be frank."

"He has played several excellent innings. It is noise from the outside. There's no discussion of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," Crawley concluded.