Crawley Unaware of Captain Stokes' Controversial 'Weak Men' Comments

England opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments made by captain Ben Stokes about the dressing room not being "those lacking fortitude".

Stokes made those words in multiple interviews following his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes versus Australia previously.

Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, Stokes stated he had let his message to "circulate freely" among the playing group.

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

However, after Crawley made 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 media with some skepticism," he added.

Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy

Stokes issued his "weak men" comment subsequent to his side suffered a loss in the second Test to go two matches behind.

The England squad subsequently took a holiday to Noosa between the second and third Tests.

Before the Adelaide contest, he said his players had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.

Yet, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their previous tenure in charge.

"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we could do something special entering this game."

The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Ashes Triumph

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

The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a notional total of 435 runs.

Consequently, Australia need just four more wickets on the last day to secure an unassailable three-nil advantage after three matches played.

Defeat will extend England's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth straight overseas Ashes defeat.

This series will be completed in just 11 days of cricket – with England losing the first two Tests in two and four days each.

The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.

"It's disappointing," admitted Crawley. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."

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

"It's been difficult. They're a formidable team. It was inevitably hard coming here to face them. They entered as the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."

Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny

Although the opener's performance in the third Test likely secures questions about his short-term place in the England team, Pope appears under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.

Pope fell for 17 runs in the team's second knock on day four, adding to his modest returns against the old enemy.

Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and averages 17.62.

A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top six in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.

However, the opener said any notion Pope is being scrutinised originates with "you guys" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."

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

"He has produced some really good knocks. This is noise externally. There is no chat of that nature on Ollie in the camp," Crawley finished.