I expected a handshake – Bancroft describes Bairstow incident
Australia batsman Cameron Bancroft described the incident involving Jonny Bairstow and he too insisted there was no malice in the alleged headbutt.
The hosts completed a 10-wicket win over England in the first Ashes Test on Monday, but most of the talk afterwards in Brisbane centred on Bairstow's apparent headbutt on Bancroft.
Allegations emerged on Sunday that Bairstow headbutted Bancroft at a bar while England were in Perth preparing to face a Western Australia XI before the Ashes started.
The incident has since been played down and Bancroft said while he was taken by surprise, there was no malice from Bairstow, who will not face disciplinary action.
"It was very friendly, mingling the whole night. Obviously some of our [Western Australia] players knew some of the English players and things like that," he told a news conference.
"As the night progressed, it was great to be able to meet some of those guys and I got into a very amicable conversation with Jonny and he just greeted me with a headbutt kind of thing.
"I was expecting a handshake but it wasn't the greeting of choice that I was expecting. That was the way that I took it.
"There was certainly no malice in his action and we continued on having a very good conversation for the rest of the evening."
The winning moment! #Ashes#ohwhatafeeling @Toyota_Aus pic.twitter.com/xjml6352Hs
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In an amusing news conference, during which Australia captain Steve Smith was laughing as he sat alongside Bancroft, the Australia opener said he had "the heaviest head" in Western Australia's squad.
Bancroft, who made an unbeaten 82 in the second innings on debut, said he had moved on from the unusual incident.
"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," the 25-year-old said.
"As I said, a handshake or a hug or something like that would've been something that I expected more than a headbutt, but as I said, there was certainly nothing malicious about his action.
"I don't know Jonny Bairstow, but he says hello to people very differently to most others.
"We got along for the rest of the night quite well and I let it go and moved on from it, it was fine."
