BRISBANE, Australia (AP) – Jonny Bairstow’s unorthodox method of greeting Cameron Bancroft in a pub last month overshadowed questions of cricket at the news conferences following Australia’s win over England in the Ashes series opener.
Speculation about a head-butting incident emerged when some Australian fielders made a reference to it – picked up on an on-field microphone – in a bid to unsettle England wicketkeeper Bairstow while he was batting on Sunday.
The England Cricket Board confirmed overnight it had asked Bairstow for an explanation. Both sides agreed there was no malice involved, and there’s unlikely to be any disciplinary action.
England’s Jake Ball, right, appeals for the wicket of Australia’s Cameron Bancroft, left, during their Ashes cricket test match in Brisbane, Australia, Monday, Nov. 27, 2017. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)
Not long after Bancroft scored the winning runs for Australia on Monday, remaining unbeaten on 82, he and Bairstow fronted separate news conferences to outline what happened at the Avenue bar four weeks ago.
Bairstow went first, offering a statement without taking questions, on the night out not long after the England squad arrived in Western Australia.
“It’s been blown completely out of proportion,” he said. “There was no intent, nor malice about anything during the evening.
“As you could see out there today there was no animosity between myself, Cameron and any other of the Australia players and hopefully now we can swipe this underneath the table.”
England coach Trevor Bayliss said there was no malice in Bairstow’s actions, and said he wouldn’t even define it as a head butt. England captain Joe Root described the episode as boyish behavior, and said the timing of the revelations was likely a plot to unsettle his team.
Bancroft made his debut for Australia in Brisbane, and the first questions he faced were not about his game.
“I got into a very amicable conversation with Jonny and he just greeted me with a head butt, kind of thing,” Bancroft said of the night when he was celebrating a win with his provincial team in Western Australia. “I was expecting a handshake. It wasn’t the greeting of choice that I was expecting. That was the way I that I took it.
“There was certainly no malice in his action and we continued on, having very good conversation for the rest of the evening,” Bancroft added. “Obviously at the time, he said sorry, for me personally it was just really weird – it was so random and I certainly didn’t expect it coming.”
Bancroft said he’d have preferred a handshake or a hug, but wasn’t knocked over and wasn’t particularly upset by the greeting.
“He says hello to people very differently to most others,” he said. “I let it go and moved on from it, it was fine.”
The Perth incident happened in the wake of a separate episode in September outside a club in Bristol that has resulted in allrounder Ben Stokes missing the start of the Ashes tour. Stokes has remained in England pending a police investigation.
Bayliss said there’d be no disciplinary action against Bairstow, but added that the player group would likely agree to change policies to ensure there’s no risk of off-field behavior that puts external pressure on the team.
“Well, that’s what I thought after Bristol as well, they would be extra dumb and stupid if it didn’t (change), for sure,” Bayliss said. “Any team at this level will take any opportunity to get stuck into the opposition, make them feel uncomfortable wherever possible.
“If you put yourself into that situation you’re fair game. We’ve got to be very careful that we don’t do that in the future.”
Off-field incidents have overshadowed Ashes tests in the past, including the 2013 series in England when Australian opener David Warner was banned for two matches following a confrontation with Root in a bar.
Root said there was no comparison between the two episodes. What bothered him most was the opportunity it gave the media to criticize his England squad, and the advantage that gave the Australians.
“It’s come up the first day Australia had a good day on the field four weeks later,” he said. “If it was a big deal, it would have come out a lot earlier. Have to be careful not to make a big deal of something that’s not there.
“I think the most important thing is we stay strong and tight as a group of players and that we continue to keep doing the hard work that we have done throughout the whole trip.”
Australia’s David Warner, left, hugs teammate Cameron Bancroft after winning the match during their Ashes cricket test against England in Brisbane, Australia, Monday, Nov. 27, 2017. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)
England’s Jonny Bairstow, right, warms up ahead of Day 5 of an Ashes cricket test against Australia in Brisbane, Australia, Monday, Nov. 27, 2017. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)
Australia celebrate the wicket of Jonny Bairstow during the Ashes cricket test between England and Australia in Brisbane, Australia, Sunday, Nov. 26, 2017. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)
Australia’s David Warner, center, and Cameron Bancroft, second from right, shake hands with England captain Joe Root, second from left, after winning the match during their Ashes cricket test in Brisbane, Australia, Monday, Nov. 27, 2017. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)
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