England opener Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments made by captain Stokes about the team environment not being "weak men".
The all-rounder made those words in multiple interviews in the wake of his team's loss in the second Ashes series versus Australia earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where England are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" among the squad.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I required," remarked the England leader.
But, following the opener made a knock of 85 on the penultimate 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 press with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "weak men" comment subsequent to England suffered a loss in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently took a break to Noosa between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before this match, he revealed his players had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay alive in the series.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their prior tenure in leadership.
"It's been very positive, the same as always," noted the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's dismissal on day four was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australian spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435.
This means, the home team require four wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an insurmountable three-nil advantage with three Tests.
A loss would prolong England's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes series defeat.
This series is set to be decided in just eleven days of play – after England losing the first two Tests in rapid time each.
Not since 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"It's disheartening," said Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're facing elimination now."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it like that," he continued.
"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a formidable side. It was inevitably hard coming here against them. They entered as the favourites and they've proven why."
Pope's Position In Question
Although Crawley's performance in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his short-term future in the side, Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in England's second innings on day four, adding to his poor record versus the old enemy.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a fifty and averages just 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a lower average.
But, Crawley insisted any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "you guys" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"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 several excellent innings. It is noise externally. There is no chat of that nature regarding Pope amongst the players," he finished.
