Crawley Unaware of Captain Stokes' Provocative 'Weak Men' Comments

The English opening batter Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments made by skipper Ben Stokes regarding the team environment not being "weak men".

The all-rounder made this message in several interviews following England's loss in the second Ashes against Australia earlier this month.

In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, Stokes stated he had let his message to "circulate freely" among the squad.

"I have completed all the talking over the past two days that I required," said Stokes.

However, following the opener made 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he commented: "I didn't see that."

"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.

Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging

The captain issued his "fragile individuals" observation after his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to go two matches behind.

The team subsequently took a break to a Queensland resort between the second and third matches.

Prior to this match, he revealed his players had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.

Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the messaging from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their prior three years in leadership.

"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we were capable of something special going into this game."

The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph

Crawley's wicket on day four was part of a crucial three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Lyon.

The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – meant England six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435 runs.

This means, Australia need just four more wickets on the final day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 lead after three Tests.

Defeat would prolong England's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth straight overseas Ashes series defeat.

The current battle is set to be decided in only 11 days of cricket – with England losing the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.

Not since 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.

"It's disheartening," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."

"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," he continued.

"It's been difficult. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard touring here to face them. They were the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."

Pope's Place In Question

While Crawley's performance in Adelaide probably answers questions about his short-term place in the side, Ollie Pope looks under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.

The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in the team's second innings on day four, extending his modest returns versus the old enemy.

In sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and averages 17.62.

A solitary other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in the Ashes and recorded a poorer average.

But, the opener insisted any notion his teammate is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."

"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "He has had a good year to be frank."

"He has played some really good knocks. This is noise from the outside. There's no discussion of that nature on Ollie in the camp," Crawley concluded.