Zak Crawley Claims Ignorance of Captain Stokes' Provocative 'Weak Men' Comments
The English opener Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements from skipper Stokes regarding the team environment not being "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder made those words in multiple conversations in the wake of his team's loss in the second Ashes against Australia previously.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face defeat with a match to spare, the captain noted he had let his message to "drift around" within the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," said Stokes.
But, after the opener scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take everything that is said in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain made the "fragile individuals" observation subsequent to England suffered a loss in the second Test to go two matches behind.
The England squad subsequently took a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and third matches.
Prior to this match, he revealed his team had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from Stokes and head coach McCullum had remained consistent with their prior three years in leadership.
"It's been very positive, unchanged," said the opener. "It's just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat going into this Test."
The Hosts Close of Historic Series Victory
The opener's dismissal on day four was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a notional total of 435 runs.
This means, the home team require just four more wickets on the final day to move to an unassailable 3-0 lead after three Tests.
A loss would prolong the English team's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in only 11 days of cricket – after England losing the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"It's disappointing," said Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're facing elimination now."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we will definitely view it like that," he continued.
"It's been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard coming here to face them. They were the favourites and they've proven why."
Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While the opener's performance in Adelaide likely secures questions about his immediate future in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
Pope fell for 17 runs in England's second innings on day four, adding to his poor record against Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and averages just 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
However, the opener insisted any notion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – meaning the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. It is noise from the outside. There is no discussion like that on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley finished.
