Crawley Unaware of Captain Stokes' Provocative 'Weak Men' Comments
England opener Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of statements made by captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered those words in several interviews following his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series against Australia earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where England now face a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had let his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the squad.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
However, after Crawley made a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "fragile individuals" observation after his side were beaten in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The team subsequently took a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and third Tests.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he said his team had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain alive in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their prior three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. It felt like we were capable of something special going into this game."
Australia Close of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal on day four was part of a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a daunting target of 435 runs.
This means, Australia need four wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an unassailable 3-0 advantage with three matches played.
A loss will extend the English team's winless run in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in only 11 days of cricket – after England fell the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"It's disheartening," admitted the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and we're facing elimination at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we will certainly approach it like that," he continued.
"The challenge has been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was always going to be tough touring here to face them. They were the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place In Question
While Crawley's innings in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his short-term future in the side, Pope looks under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 in the team's second innings on Saturday, extending his poor record versus Australia.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
But, the opener said any notion his teammate is being scrutinised originates with "you guys" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."
"We all know how good of a player he is," added he. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is talk externally. There's no discussion of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
