Jonny Bairstow releases statement on Cameron Bancroft headbutt after Ashes collapse

In it, he provided his account of his evening out in Perth with Australia opener Cameron Bancroft and others on October 29. Here it is:

“I wanted to address you, obviously, about some news that’s come (out) over the last 24 hours.

“First of all, personally, I think it has been blown completely out of proportion.

“That evening, we were allowed out. There wasn’t any curfew.

“I caught up with one of my friends and some of the Western Australia guys after they’d just beaten Tasmania at the WACA.

“We were just in the bar, having a good laugh and a good evening out. It was very enjoyable.

“Cameron and I enjoyed the evening and continued to do so.

“There was no intent, nor malice, about anything during the evening.

“As you could see, out there [on the pitch] today, there is no animosity between myself, Cameron (or) any of the other Australian players.

“I hope we can now swipe this underneath the table, continue what is going to be a fantastic and exciting series – and we move on from there.

“Thank you.”