Bancroft: Bairstow greeted me with a headbutt

Australian cricket debutant Cameron Bancroft says England’s Jonny Bairstow greeted him with a headbutt in a Perth bar earlier this month before they continued drinking for the rest of the night.

‘‘I got into a very amicable conversation with Jonny. He just greeted me with a headbutt,’’ Bancroft said.

‘‘I was expecting a handshake, it wasn’t the greeting of choice that I expected. There was certainly no malice in it and we continued having a very good conversation for the rest of the evening.

‘‘At the time he said sorry. For me personally it was just weird, I didn’t see it coming. He says hello to people very differently to others. He connected with my head with a force that made me think that’s a bit weird.’’

The controversy kicked off on Sunday when Australian vice-captain David Warner was picked up on the stump microphone at the Gabba telling an England player: ‘‘You shouldn’t headbutt our mates’’.

The episode was being played down by the England and Wales Cricket Board, whose director of cricket Andrew Strauss, according to the BBC, described it as ‘‘playfulness’’ that had been ‘‘blown out of all proportion’’.

‘‘We were just in the bar having a good laugh and good evening out,’’ Bairstow said in a post-match statement.

England captain Joe Root said claims about Bairstow were ‘‘a mountain out of a molehill’’.

‘‘It was just a bit of joshing around, boyish behaviour.’’

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