England opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of statements from skipper Ben Stokes about the team environment as no place for "weak men".
Stokes delivered this message in several conversations following England's loss in the second match of the Ashes versus the Australians previously.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had allowed his message to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I have completed all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
But, following Crawley scored 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he commented: "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 press with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "weak men" observation subsequent to his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards took a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and third matches.
Before this match, Stokes said his players had held "raw" conversations and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay in contention in the series.
Yet, Crawley stated the guidance from Stokes and coach McCullum had remained consistent with their prior three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted the opener. "It's just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do something special entering this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
The opener's wicket on day four came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left England 207-6 in pursuit of a notional total of 435.
Consequently, Australia require four wickets on the last day to move to an insurmountable three-nil advantage with three matches played.
A loss would prolong England's drought in this country to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth successive away Ashes series loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in just 11 days of cricket – with England fell the initial matches in rapid time each.
The last time 1921, when Australia completed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're facing elimination at this point."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"The challenge has been difficult. Australia is a formidable team. It was always going to be tough touring here against them. They were the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."
Pope's Place In Question
Although Crawley's innings in the third Test likely secures questions about his immediate future in the England team, Pope looks under threat for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 in England's second innings on day four, adding to his poor record against Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and averages just 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
However, Crawley insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – referring to 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 to be frank."
"He has produced several excellent innings. It is noise from the outside. There's no chat like that regarding Pope in the camp," he finished.
