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

England opener Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments made by captain Ben Stokes about the team environment as no place for "those lacking fortitude".

Stokes made this message in multiple interviews following his team's defeat in the second Ashes versus Australia previously.

Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors now face defeat with a match to spare, the captain stated he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" among the squad.

"I've done 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 the third Test, 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 media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.

Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy

Stokes issued his "weak men" comment after England suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.

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

Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes said his players had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay in contention in the series.

Yet, Crawley stated the guidance from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their prior tenure in charge.

"It's been very positive, unchanged," said Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of something special going into this game."

The Hosts Close of Rapid Ashes Triumph

The opener's wicket on day four was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.

The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a daunting total of 435 runs.

Consequently, Australia need four wickets on the final day to secure an unassailable 3-0 advantage with three matches played.

A loss would prolong the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes loss.

This series will be completed in only eleven days of play – after England losing the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.

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

"This is disappointing," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."

"There will still be plenty to play for and we will definitely view it with that mindset," he continued.

"The challenge has been difficult. Australia is a formidable team. It was inevitably hard touring here against them. They were the favourites coming in to it they've proven why."

Ollie Pope's Place In Question

Although Crawley's innings in the third Test probably answers questions about his immediate place in the side, Ollie Pope appears under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.

The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in the team's second innings on Saturday, extending his poor record versus Australia.

Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.

A solitary other England player in over a century – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.

But, the opener insisted any notion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."

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

"He has played some really good knocks. This is talk from the outside. There's no discussion like that on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley finished.