Crawley Claims Ignorance of Captain Stokes' Provocative 'Weak Men' Comments

England opener Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with statements from skipper Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "weak men".

Stokes delivered those words in several interviews in the wake of England's loss in the second match of the Ashes against Australia earlier this month.

Ahead of the third Test, where England now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the squad.

"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.

But, after the opener scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."

"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.

Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging

Stokes issued his "fragile individuals" comment after England suffered a loss in the second Test to go 2-0 down.

The England squad subsequently took a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and third matches.

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

Nevertheless, Crawley stated the messaging from Stokes and coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior tenure in charge.

"It's been very positive, the same as always," said Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat going into this game."

Australia On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory

The opener's dismissal on day four came during a decisive triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.

Lyon's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – meant England 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435 runs.

This means, the home team require four wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 advantage with three matches played.

A loss would prolong England's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth successive overseas Ashes loss.

The current battle will be completed in just 11 days of play – with England fell the initial matches in two and four days respectively.

The last time 1921, when the Australians completed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.

"It's disheartening," admitted the batsman. "We came here 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 certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.

"It's been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably tough touring here to face them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."

Ollie Pope's Place In Question

Although Crawley's performance in the third Test likely secures questions about his immediate place in the England team, Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.

The Surrey batsman was out for 17 in England's second knock on Saturday, adding to his poor record versus Australia.

In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has never made a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.

Only one other England player in over a century – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and recorded a poorer average.

However, the opener insisted any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope originates with "you guys" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."

"We all know of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "He has had a good year to be frank."

"He has played some really good knocks. This is noise from the outside. There's no discussion like that on Ollie amongst the players," he concluded.