Zak Crawley Claims Ignorance of Stokes' Controversial 'Weak Men' Remarks

The English opener Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments made by captain Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".

Stokes delivered those words in multiple interviews following his team's defeat in the second Ashes series against the Australians earlier this month.

In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had let his sentiment to "drift around" within the playing group.

"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.

However, following Crawley scored 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I missed those remarks."

"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.

Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging

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

The team subsequently went on a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming matches.

Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his team had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.

Yet, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their previous tenure in charge.

"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," said the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat going into this Test."

The Hosts Close of Historic Ashes Triumph

The opener's dismissal late on Saturday came during a crucial triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Lyon.

The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left England six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435 runs.

This means, Australia need just four more wickets on Sunday's final day to secure an unassailable 3-0 advantage after three matches played.

Defeat would prolong England's winless run in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes defeat.

The current battle is set to be decided in just eleven days of cricket – after England fell the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.

Not since 1921, when Australia sealed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.

"It's disappointing," admitted the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."

"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will definitely view it with that mindset," Crawley added.

"It's been difficult. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard touring here to face them. They were the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."

Pope's Position In Question

While Crawley's innings in the third Test probably answers doubts about his immediate future in the England team, Ollie Pope looks 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, adding to his poor record against the old enemy.

Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.

A solitary other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.

But, Crawley insisted any suggestion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."

"We all know how good of a player he is," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year if I'm honest."

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