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

The English opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments made by skipper 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 Australia earlier this month.

In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England now face defeat with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had let his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the playing group.

"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," remarked the England leader.

However, after Crawley made a knock of 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he stated: "I didn't see that."

"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. We take anything stated in the media with some skepticism," he added.

Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging

Stokes made the "weak men" comment after England were beaten in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.

The England squad subsequently went on a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and third matches.

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

Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their previous three years in charge.

"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," said Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we could do something special entering this Test."

The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory

The opener's dismissal late on Saturday came during a crucial triple-strike by Australian spinner Lyon.

Lyon's three wickets in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side 207-6 chasing a daunting target of 435 runs.

Consequently, Australia need just four more wickets on Sunday's final day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 lead with three Tests.

Defeat would prolong England's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes series defeat.

This series is set to be decided in just 11 days of play – with England fell the initial matches in rapid time respectively.

Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.

"It's disheartening," admitted the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."

"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.

"It's been tough. They're a very, very good side. It was always going to be hard coming here to face them. They were the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."

Pope's Place In Question

While the opener's innings in Adelaide probably answers questions about his immediate future in the side, Ollie Pope looks under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.

The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in the team's second innings on day four, extending his poor record against Australia.

In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.

A solitary other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.

However, the opener said any suggestion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."

"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "He has had a good 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 amongst the players," Crawley concluded.