England opener Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments made by skipper Ben Stokes regarding the team environment as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered those words in several interviews in the wake of his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes versus Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at defeat with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had let his message to "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
However, after Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "weak men" observation subsequent to England suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently went on a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, he said his players had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their prior three years in charge.
"It's been very positive, the same as always," said Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we were capable of something special going into this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
The opener's wicket late on Saturday came during a decisive triple-strike by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – left England 207-6 chasing a notional total of 435 runs.
Consequently, Australia require four wickets on the final day to secure an insurmountable three-nil advantage with three matches played.
A loss will extend the English team's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth successive away Ashes series loss.
This series is set to be decided in only 11 days of cricket – with England losing the initial matches in rapid time respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined so quickly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," said the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There remains plenty to play for and we will certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"The challenge has been difficult. They're a very, very good team. It was always going to be tough touring here to face them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place In Question
While the opener's innings in the third Test probably answers questions about his short-term place in the side, Ollie Pope looks under threat for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in England's second knock on day four, extending his poor record against the old enemy.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and averages 17.62.
Only one other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
But, the opener insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised originates with "you guys" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "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 discussion of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," Crawley finished.
