Zak Crawley Claims Ignorance of Stokes' Controversial 'Weak Men' Remarks
The English opener Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments from skipper Ben Stokes regarding the team environment as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes made this message in several interviews in the wake of his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes versus the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had allowed his message to "drift around" among the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
However, after the opener scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "fragile individuals" comment after his side suffered a loss in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently went on a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his players had held "raw" conversations and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their previous tenure in charge.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, 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 an extraordinary feat entering this game."
The Hosts Close of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal on day four came during a crucial triple-strike by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left England 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435.
This means, Australia need four wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an insurmountable three-nil lead after three Tests.
A loss would prolong the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth successive away Ashes defeat.
This series is set to be decided in just eleven days of play – after England fell the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined more swiftly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"It's disappointing," said Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're facing elimination at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been tough. They're a formidable team. It was inevitably hard coming here to face them. They were the favourites and they've proven why."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's performance in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his short-term future in the England team, Ollie Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 runs in England's second knock on day four, adding to his modest returns against the old enemy.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.
A solitary other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
However, the opener said any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "the media" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is noise from the outside. There's no chat like that regarding Pope in the camp," he concluded.
