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

England opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements made by captain Ben Stokes regarding the team environment as no place for "weak men".

Stokes delivered those words in multiple conversations following England's loss in the second Ashes against the Australians previously.

Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors now face defeat with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the squad.

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

However, after Crawley 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 everything that is said in the media with some skepticism," he added.

Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging

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

The England squad afterwards went on a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third Tests.

Prior to this match, Stokes revealed his team had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain alive in the series.

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

"It's been very positive, the same as always," noted Crawley. "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."

The Hosts Close of Historic Ashes Triumph

The opener's wicket late on Saturday was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australian spinner Lyon.

The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435 runs.

This means, the home team require just four more wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 advantage after three Tests.

A loss will extend England's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth straight away Ashes defeat.

This series is set to be decided in only 11 days of cricket – with England losing the initial matches in two and four days each.

The last time 1921, when Australia completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the modern era.

"It's disappointing," said the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."

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

"It's been tough. They're a formidable team. It was inevitably hard touring here against them. They entered as the favourites and they've proven why."

Pope's Position Under Scrutiny

Although Crawley's performance in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his short-term future in the side, Ollie Pope appears under threat for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.

Pope fell for 17 runs in the team's second knock on Saturday, adding to his poor record against Australia.

Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and averages 17.62.

Only one other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in the Ashes and returned a lower average.

However, Crawley insisted any notion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."

"We all know of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "He has had a good year to be frank."

"He has played some really good knocks. This is talk externally. There is no discussion like that regarding Pope amongst the players," he concluded.