Zak Crawley Claims Ignorance of Captain Stokes' Controversial 'Weak Men' Comments

England opener Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments from captain Stokes about the team environment not being "weak men".

Stokes made those words in several conversations in the wake of his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series against the Australians previously.

In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had let his message to "drift around" within the playing group.

"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.

But, after the opener scored 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. We take anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.

Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging

Stokes made the "fragile individuals" comment after England were beaten in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.

The team subsequently took a holiday to Noosa in the gap between the second and third matches.

Before this match, he revealed his players had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.

Yet, the Kent batsman asserted the guidance from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their prior three years in leadership.

"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," noted Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we could do something special entering this game."

The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory

Crawley's wicket on day four came during a decisive triple-strike by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.

The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a daunting target of 435 runs.

This means, the home team need just four more wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an unassailable three-nil advantage with three Tests.

Defeat will extend England's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth straight away Ashes loss.

This series will be completed in just 11 days of play – after England losing the initial matches in two and four days each.

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

"It's disheartening," admitted Crawley. "We came here to regain the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel now."

"There remains plenty to play for and we will certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.

"It's been tough. Australia is a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard coming here against them. They were the front-runners and they've proven why."

Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny

While Crawley's performance in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his immediate future in the England team, Pope looks under threat for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.

The Surrey batsman was out for 17 in the team's second knock on Saturday, extending his poor record versus the old enemy.

Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and averages just 17.62.

A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.

However, Crawley said any notion his teammate is under the microscope originates with "the media" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."

"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year to be frank."

"He has played several excellent innings. This is talk from the outside. There is no discussion of that nature on Ollie in the camp," Crawley finished.