Bancroft, Bairstow play down bar-room ‘headbutt’ incident

BRISBANE: Australian batsman Cameron Bancroft said England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow had headbutted him by way of a friendly greeting in a Perth bar last month as both men played down the incident.

With his captain Steve Smith sat beside him laughing, Bancroft recalled the meeting that prompted sensational reports on the eve of the home side’s victory in the first Ashes test at the Gabba.

“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 I’d expected. We continued on having a conversation.

“At the time he said sorry. For me personally it was just really weird. It was so random and I didn’t really expect it. “I just took it as, ‘he says hello to people very differently to others’.”

Bairstow said the incident had been “blown completely out of proportion”.

“We were just in the bar having a good laugh. Cameron and I enjoyed the evening and continued to do so. There was no intent or malice,” the 28-year-old said. “Hopefully now we can sweep this under the table and continue what will be an exciting, fantastic series.”

England coach Trevor Bayliss said the players had not been under curfew in Perth and Bairstow had not breached the code of conduct so would not be disciplined. –Reuters