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

England opening batter Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments from captain Stokes about the team environment not being "weak men".

Stokes made this message in several interviews in the wake of England's loss in the second match of the Ashes series versus the Australians previously.

Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat with a match to spare, the captain stated he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the squad.

"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," said Stokes.

However, following Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he commented: "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 media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.

Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging

Stokes made the "fragile individuals" comment after England suffered a loss in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.

The team subsequently took a holiday to Noosa in the gap between the second and third Tests.

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

Nevertheless, Crawley stated the guidance from Stokes and head coach McCullum had stayed in line with their prior tenure in charge.

"It's been very positive, the same as always," said the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with great liberty. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat entering this Test."

The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Ashes Triumph

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

The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – meant England 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435 runs.

Consequently, the home team require just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an insurmountable three-nil lead with three Tests.

Defeat will extend the English team's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes series loss.

This series is set to be decided in only eleven days of play – after England losing the initial matches in rapid time respectively.

Not since 1921, when the Australians completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.

"It's disappointing," said Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."

"There remains significant pride at stake and we will definitely view it like that," Crawley added.

"It's been tough. Australia is a formidable team. It was always going to be tough coming here against them. They entered as the favourites and they've proven why."

Pope's Place In Question

While the opener's innings in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his immediate future in the England team, Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.

The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in the team's second innings on Saturday, adding to his poor record versus the old enemy.

Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.

Only one other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.

However, Crawley said any notion Pope is under the microscope originates with "you guys" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."

"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year to be frank."

"He has produced several excellent innings. It is noise from the outside. There's no chat of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley finished.