ECB questions Bairstow over alleged Bancroft headbutt incident

BRISBANE: The ECB has spoken to Jonny Bairstow over allegations he head-butted Australia opener Cameron Bancroft in a late-night altercation. Fox Sports said Bairstow was being investigated by the ECB over an incident that took place in Perth, Australia at the start of their Ashes tour.

The incident allegedly took place at a hotel while the England team was in town for its touropening match against a Western Australian XI, the report said.

While nobody was said to be hurt in the incident it sparked heated confrontations on the field between Australian players and Bairstow when he was batting in the second innings of the first Test in Brisbane on Sunday.

An ECB statement confirmed management have asked Bairstow about the alleged incident. It said there was no report of any incident from the venue, security or police and no injury reported. The governing body plan to revisit the matter once the first Test is concluded.

“At close of play in Brisbane, we were made aware of allegations of an incident in Perth four weeks ago,” the statement read.

“There has been no report of any incident from the venue, security or police, and there was no injury reported.

“Following an initial conversation with Jonny Bairstow tonight, we understand the context and will follow up with England players and management after the Brisbane Test.”

Bairstow scored 42 as England were dismissed for 195, leaving Australia 170 runs to win the Gabba Test and who needed only 56 more runs on Monday’s final day of play.

Reports of the incident come as England await the results of a police inquiry into a fight involving star all-rounder Ben Stokes outside a Bristol nightclub in September.