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

England opener Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of statements made by captain Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "weak men".

The all-rounder made this message in several conversations in the wake of his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes series against Australia previously.

In the lead-up to the third Test, where England are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had let his message to "circulate freely" among the playing group.

"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," said Stokes.

But, after the opener made a knock of 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."

"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.

Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging

Stokes issued his "fragile individuals" comment after England suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.

The England squad afterwards took a break to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming matches.

Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes said his team had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.

Yet, Crawley asserted the messaging from the captain and head coach McCullum had remained in line with their previous three years in charge.

"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat entering this Test."

The Hosts Close of Historic Ashes Triumph

Crawley's wicket on day four came during a decisive triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Lyon.

The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side 207-6 chasing a daunting target of 435 runs.

This means, Australia need just four more wickets on the last day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 lead with three matches played.

Defeat would prolong the English team's winless run in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes series loss.

The current battle will be completed in just 11 days of cricket – after England fell the initial matches in two and four days respectively.

Not since 1921, when the Australians completed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.

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

"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 formidable team. It was always going to be hard coming here to face them. They were the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."

Pope's Place Under Scrutiny

While Crawley's performance in the third Test likely secures doubts about his immediate place in the side, Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.

The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in England's second knock on Saturday, extending his poor record against Australia.

Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has never made a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.

A solitary other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and recorded a lower average.

But, the opener said any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "the media" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."

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

"He has produced some really good knocks. This is talk externally. There's no discussion like that on Ollie in the camp," he concluded.