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

The English opener Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements made by skipper Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".

Stokes made this message in multiple interviews following England's loss in the second match of the Ashes versus Australia previously.

Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had let his message to "drift around" within the squad.

"I've done all the talking in recent days that I required," remarked Stokes.

But, following the opener made 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. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with some skepticism," he added.

Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy

The captain made the "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to England suffered a loss in Brisbane to go two matches behind.

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

Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes said his players had held "raw" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.

Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the messaging from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their previous tenure in leadership.

"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we were capable of an extraordinary feat entering this game."

Australia Close of Historic Ashes Triumph

The opener's dismissal on day four came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.

Lyon's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left England six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional target of 435 runs.

Consequently, the home team need four wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an unassailable 3-0 lead with three matches played.

Defeat will extend England's winless run in this country to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth straight overseas Ashes defeat.

The current battle is set to be decided in only 11 days of cricket – with England losing the initial matches in two and four days each.

Not since 1921, when Australia completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.

"It's disheartening," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're facing elimination now."

"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will definitely view it with that mindset," he continued.

"The challenge has been difficult. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably tough touring here against them. They were the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."

Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny

Although the opener's innings in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his short-term future in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.

Pope fell for 17 runs in England's second knock on day four, adding to his poor record versus Australia.

Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.

Only one other England player in over a century – Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.

But, the opener insisted any suggestion Pope is under the microscope originates with "you guys" – referring to the press – "not inside the camp."

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

"He has produced several excellent innings. This is noise from the outside. There is no chat like that on Ollie amongst the players," he concluded.