Crawley Unaware of Captain Stokes' Provocative 'Weak Men' Comments
England opening batter Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements from captain Ben Stokes regarding the team environment not being "weak men".
The all-rounder made this message in several interviews following England's loss in the second match of the Ashes versus Australia previously.
Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had let his message to "drift around" among the squad.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
However, following the opener scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
The captain issued his "weak men" observation after England were beaten in Brisbane to go two matches behind.
The England squad subsequently took a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he revealed his team had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay alive in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach McCullum had remained consistent with their previous three years in charge.
"It's been very positive, the same as always," noted Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do something special entering this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Ashes Triumph
Crawley's dismissal on day four came during a decisive triple-strike by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left England 207-6 chasing a daunting total of 435.
This means, the home team need four wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 advantage after three Tests.
A loss would prolong the English team's winless run in this country to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth successive overseas Ashes series defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in just eleven days of play – after England fell the first two Tests in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when Australia sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"It's disheartening," admitted the batsman. "We came here 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 tough. Australia is a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard touring here against them. They were the favourites and they've proven why."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's performance in the third Test likely secures doubts about his immediate place in the side, Ollie Pope looks under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
Pope was out for 17 in the team's second innings on day four, adding to his poor record against Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a half-century and averages just 17.62.
Only one other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
But, Crawley insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – meaning 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 talk from the outside. There's no discussion of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," Crawley concluded.