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

The English opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments from skipper Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "those lacking fortitude".

Stokes delivered those words in several interviews following England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes versus Australia earlier this month.

Ahead of the third Test, where England now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the playing group.

"I have completed all the talking in recent days that I required," remarked Stokes.

However, following the opener scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."

"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. We take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," he added.

Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy

Stokes made the "weak men" comment after England suffered a loss in Brisbane to go two matches behind.

The team afterwards went on a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.

Before this match, he said his players had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to remain alive in the Ashes battle.

Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their previous tenure in charge.

"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," said Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat entering this game."

Australia Close of Rapid Series Victory

The opener's dismissal on day four was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australian spinner Lyon.

Lyon's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant England 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435.

Consequently, Australia need four wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an unassailable three-nil advantage after three matches played.

Defeat would prolong England's drought in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes defeat.

The current battle is set to be decided in only 11 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. The hosts have also triumphed in 11 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 at this point."

"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.

"It's been difficult. They're a very, very good side. It was inevitably tough coming here to face them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."

Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny

While Crawley's performance in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his immediate place in the England team, Pope appears under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.

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

In sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and averages just 17.62.

Only one other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in the Ashes and recorded a lower average.

But, the opener insisted any notion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "the media" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."

"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added he. "He has had a good year to be frank."

"He has played some really good knocks. This is talk from the outside. There is no chat like that regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley concluded.