Zak Crawley Unaware of Captain Stokes' Controversial 'Weak Men' Comments
The English opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of statements made by captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "weak men".
Stokes delivered those words in several interviews following his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes series against Australia earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England now face a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had allowed his message to "drift around" within the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
But, after the opener made a knock of 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "weak men" observation after England suffered a loss in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently took a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, he said his team had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, Crawley stated the guidance from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their previous three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat going into this game."
Australia On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's wicket on day four came during a decisive triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant England six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional total of 435.
This means, Australia require four wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an unassailable 3-0 lead after three Tests.
A loss would prolong the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes series loss.
The current battle will be completed in just eleven days of play – with England fell the first two Tests in rapid time each.
The last time 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're facing elimination now."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we will certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard coming here against them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's innings in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his immediate place in the side, Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in the team's second innings on day four, extending his modest returns against the old enemy.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.
However, Crawley insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is talk externally. There is no discussion like that on Ollie amongst the players," he finished.