Crawley Unaware of Stokes' Provocative 'Weak Men' Remarks
England opening batter Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements made by skipper Ben Stokes about the team environment as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder made those words in several conversations following his team's loss in the second Ashes versus the Australians previously.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where England now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had let his message to "circulate freely" among the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
However, following Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
Stokes issued his "weak men" observation subsequent to England were beaten in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards went on a break to a Queensland resort between the second and third Tests.
Before the Adelaide contest, he said his team had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay in contention in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from Stokes and head coach McCullum had stayed in line with their prior tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with great liberty. It felt like we were capable of something special going into this Test."
The Hosts Close of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal on day four came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435 runs.
This means, Australia require four wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an unassailable 3-0 lead with three Tests.
A loss will extend England's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes loss.
The current battle will be completed in just 11 days of cricket – after England fell the initial matches in rapid time each.
The last time 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will definitely view it like that," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been difficult. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard touring here to face them. They were the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Position In Question
While the opener's performance in the third Test likely secures doubts about his short-term future in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in England's second innings on day four, extending his modest returns versus Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and averages 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
However, the opener insisted any suggestion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added he. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has played several excellent innings. It is talk externally. There is no chat of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley finished.
