Zak Crawley Claims Ignorance of Captain Stokes' Provocative 'Weak Men' Remarks
England opening batter Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of statements from skipper Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered this message in multiple conversations following England's loss in the second Ashes against Australia previously.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, Stokes stated he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" among the squad.
"I have completed all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," said Stokes.
But, 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 anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "weak men" observation after his side suffered a loss in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The team subsequently took a holiday to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he revealed his players had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to remain in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the messaging from the captain and head coach McCullum had remained in line with their prior three years in charge.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said the opener. "It's just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat entering this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's wicket on day four came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a notional total of 435.
Consequently, Australia need four wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an unassailable 3-0 advantage after three matches played.
A loss would prolong England's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes series loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in only 11 days of cricket – after England losing the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," said Crawley. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. Australia is a formidable team. It was always going to be tough coming here against them. They were the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
Although Crawley's performance in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his short-term place in the England team, Pope appears under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
Pope was out for 17 in the team's second innings on Saturday, adding to his poor record against the old enemy.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other England player in over a century – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
But, Crawley insisted any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "you guys" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is noise from the outside. There's no chat like that regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley finished.
