Zak Crawley Unaware of Captain Stokes' Controversial 'Weak Men' Comments
The English opener Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments made by skipper Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder made this message in several conversations following his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes against the Australians previously.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" within the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
However, following the opener scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.
The England squad subsequently went on a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and third matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his team had held "raw" conversations and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay alive in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the guidance from Stokes and coach McCullum had stayed in line with their prior three years in charge.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this Test."
Australia Close of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a notional target of 435.
This means, Australia need four wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 lead with three matches played.
Defeat would prolong England's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth straight overseas Ashes series loss.
This series will be completed in just 11 days of play – with England losing the initial matches in rapid time each.
The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also won in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disheartening," said Crawley. "We came here to win the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel now."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it like that," he continued.
"It's been tough. Australia is a formidable side. It was always going to be hard touring here to face them. They entered as the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's innings in the third Test likely secures doubts about his short-term place in the side, Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in the team's second knock on day four, extending his poor record versus the old enemy.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and recorded a poorer average.
But, the opener said any suggestion Pope is under the microscope originates with "the media" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is noise externally. There's no chat of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," he concluded.