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

England opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments from captain Ben Stokes about the team environment as no place for "those lacking fortitude".

The all-rounder delivered those words in several conversations in the wake of his team's defeat in the second Ashes against Australia previously.

Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, the captain stated he had let his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the squad.

"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," remarked the England leader.

But, following the opener scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he commented: "I didn't see that."

"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.

Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy

Stokes made the "weak men" comment after England were beaten in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.

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

Before this match, Stokes said his team had held "raw" conversations and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.

Yet, Crawley stated the guidance from Stokes and head coach McCullum had stayed in line with their prior three years in leadership.

"It's been very positive, unchanged," noted Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat going into this game."

The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Series Victory

The opener's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Lyon.

The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a notional target of 435.

This means, the home team need four wickets on Sunday's final day to secure an unassailable three-nil advantage after three Tests.

Defeat would prolong England's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes series loss.

This series will be completed in just 11 days of cricket – after England fell the first two Tests in rapid time each.

The last time 1921, when Australia sealed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.

"It's disheartening," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're facing elimination now."

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

"The challenge has been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was always going to be tough touring here against them. They were the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."

Ollie Pope's Position In Question

While Crawley's performance in the third Test probably answers doubts about his immediate future in the side, Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.

Pope was out for 17 runs in the team's second innings on Saturday, adding to his modest returns against the old enemy.

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

A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.

But, the opener insisted any notion Pope is under the microscope originates with "the media" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."

"We all know how good of a player he is," added Crawley. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."

"He has produced several excellent innings. This is noise from the outside. There's no chat of that nature regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley concluded.