Zak Crawley Unaware of Captain Stokes' Provocative 'Weak Men' Comments
The English opener Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of statements made by captain Ben Stokes regarding the team environment as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes made those words in several conversations following his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes versus Australia previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at defeat with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had let his message to "drift around" among the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions in recent days that I required," said Stokes.
But, after the opener scored 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "weak men" comment after England were beaten in the second Test to go two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards went on a holiday to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before this match, he revealed his players had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, Crawley asserted the messaging from Stokes and head coach McCullum had remained in line with their prior tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of something special entering this game."
Australia On the Verge of Rapid Ashes Triumph
The opener's wicket late on Saturday was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australian spinner Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Brook and Stokes himself – meant England 207-6 in pursuit of a notional target of 435.
This means, Australia need four wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an insurmountable three-nil lead with three Tests.
Defeat would prolong the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth straight away Ashes loss.
The current battle will be completed in only 11 days of play – after England fell the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when Australia sealed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also won in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a very, very good side. It was always going to be hard touring here against them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."
Pope's Position In Question
While the opener's innings in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his immediate future in the England team, Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
Pope was out for 17 in the team's second knock on day four, adding to his modest returns against Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and averages 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
However, Crawley insisted any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "you guys" – referring to the press – "not inside the camp."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year to be frank."
"He has produced several excellent innings. This is noise from the outside. There is no chat like that on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley concluded.