Zak Crawley Claims Ignorance of Captain Stokes' Provocative 'Weak Men' Comments
The English opener Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with statements from captain Ben Stokes regarding the team environment not being "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered this message in multiple conversations in the wake of England's loss in the second match of the Ashes against Australia previously.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had let his message to "circulate freely" within the squad.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," said Stokes.
However, after the opener scored 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"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 Steady Philosophy
The captain issued his "fragile individuals" observation after his side suffered a loss in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards went on a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and third matches.
Prior to this match, Stokes said his players had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain in contention in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach McCullum had remained consistent with their prior tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do something special entering this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's wicket on day four was part of a crucial three-wicket burst by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side 207-6 chasing a daunting total of 435.
Consequently, Australia need four wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 advantage after three matches played.
A loss will extend England's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes defeat.
This series is set to be decided in only eleven days of cricket – after England losing the first two Tests in rapid time each.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," admitted the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it like that," he continued.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a very, very good side. It was inevitably hard touring here to face them. They entered as the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place In Question
While Crawley's performance in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his immediate future in the England team, Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in the team's second innings on day four, adding to his poor record against the old enemy.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and recorded a lower average.
However, the opener said any notion Pope is under the microscope comes from "you guys" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added he. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has produced several excellent innings. It is noise externally. There's no discussion of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," he concluded.