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

The English opener Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments from skipper Ben Stokes about the team environment as no place for "those lacking fortitude".

The all-rounder delivered this message in several conversations in the wake of England's loss in the second Ashes series versus the Australians previously.

In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors now face a series loss with a match to spare, the captain noted he had let 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, following the opener made a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he stated: "I didn't see that."

"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. We take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," he added.

Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging

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

The team subsequently took a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.

Before this match, he said his team had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.

Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from Stokes and coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior tenure in leadership.

"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," noted Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do something special entering this game."

Australia Close of Historic Ashes Triumph

The opener's dismissal on day four was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.

The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435.

Consequently, the home team need four wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an unassailable 3-0 advantage with three Tests.

Defeat would prolong England's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth straight overseas Ashes loss.

The current battle is set to be decided in only eleven days of cricket – after England fell the initial matches in two and four days respectively.

Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.

"It's disheartening," said the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel at this point."

"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.

"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a very, very good side. It was always going to be tough coming here against them. They entered as the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."

Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny

Although Crawley's innings in the third Test probably answers questions about his short-term place in the side, Pope appears under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.

The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in the team's second innings on Saturday, extending his poor record versus Australia.

Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a fifty and averages 17.62.

Only one other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.

However, the opener said any notion Pope is under the microscope comes from "the media" – meaning the journalists – "not inside the camp."

"We all know of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."

"He has produced several excellent innings. It is noise from the outside. There is no chat like that regarding Pope amongst the players," he finished.