Crawley Claims Ignorance of Captain Stokes' Controversial 'Weak Men' Comments

England opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with statements made by captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "weak men".

The all-rounder made this message in several conversations following England's defeat in the second Ashes series versus the Australians previously.

In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had let his message to "drift around" within the squad.

"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I required," said the England leader.

However, following the opener made a knock of 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he stated: "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," Crawley continued.

Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging

The captain issued his "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to England suffered a loss in the second Test to fall two matches behind.

The England squad subsequently took a holiday to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.

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

Yet, Crawley stated the messaging from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their previous three years in charge.

"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," noted the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we were capable of something special going into this Test."

Australia On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph

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

Lyon's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional target of 435.

Consequently, the home team need just four more wickets on the final day to secure an insurmountable three-nil lead with three Tests.

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

The current battle will be completed in just eleven days of cricket – after England fell the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.

Not since 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the modern era.

"This is disheartening," said the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."

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

"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a very, very good team. It was always going to be tough coming here against them. They were the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."

Pope's Place Under Scrutiny

Although Crawley's performance in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his short-term place in the side, Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.

The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in England's second knock on Saturday, extending his modest returns versus Australia.

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

Only one other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.

But, Crawley said any notion Pope is under the microscope originates with "the media" – referring to the press – "not inside the camp."

"We all know how good of a player he is," added he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year if I'm honest."

"He has played several excellent innings. It is talk externally. There's no chat like that on Ollie amongst the players," he concluded.