Cameron Bancroft in action during the fifth day of the first test of the Ashes series in Brisbane yesterday. Photo / Photosport.
It's the major talking point out to emerge from England's Ashes tour so far.
Was it a headbutt? And how can a headbutt not have malice?
Regardless, the incident which went down at a Perth nightspot has caught the attention of cricket fans around the globe — and left England's Jonny Bairstow red-faced.
Here's how all parties involved described the events of that night.
CAMERON BANCROFT PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
Reporter: Cameron, well done on the innings. But can you talk us through the incident from what you remember?
Bancroft: I remember it very clearly. We just won a Shield game for WA and one of our values is to celebrate success. We were as a team and a group. That coincided with the English team arriving in Perth for the tour game. It was very friendly mingling the whole night. Some of our players knew the English players. As the night progressed, it was great to be able to meet some of those guys. I got into a very amicable conversation with Jonny and yeah, he just greeted me with a headbutt, kind of thing. I was expecting a handshake ... it wasn't the greeting of choice I was expecting. That was the way that I took it ... there was certainly no malice in his actions and we continued on having very good conversations for the rest of the evening.
Reporter: Did he apologise to you that night or subsequently?
Bancroft: At the time, he said sorry. For me, it was just really weird. It was so random, I didn't expect it coming. A handshake or a hug is something I would have expected more than a headbutt. But as I said, there was nothing malicious about his actions. I don't know Jonny Bairstow but he says hello to people very differently from most others. As I said, we got along for the rest of the night quite well. We moved on from it. It was fine.
Reporter: I realise this sounds a bit ridiculous but did he headbutt you like that (moves head forward) straightforward, or like that ... we can't work it out.
Bancroft: Whatever your imagination pictures it as, it might be.
Reporter: Well we picture it as knocking someone over.
Bancroft: No it didn't knock me over. I've actually got the heaviest head in the West Australian squad. There's an actual measurement for it. So I took the blow quite well and moved on from it. It was a good hit. Play on.
Reporter: Trevor Bayliss said it was a long way from being a headbutt. He said there's a headbutt and there's what happened to you. A headbutt is totally different. Could you, perhaps, define on a one to 10 basis what happened?
Bancroft: He connected with my head, with a force that would make me sort of think 'wow, that's a bit weird'.
Reporter: Was it the top of his head into your nose?
Bancroft: Headbutts clash with heads. When he made the decision to do that, our heads collided.
Cricket Australia media manager: I think we've clarified it now.
Reporter: Well, no, because a headbutt, it can break your nose, it can put you in hospital. So where did the top of his head hit yours?
Bancroft: Yeah, it hit my head.
Reporter: But where?
Bancroft: My head. It hit me there. Forehead. There you go.
ENGLAND WICKETKEEPER JONNY BAIRSTOW: "It's been completely blown out of proportion. We were allowed out. There weren't any curfews. I caught up with one of my friends and caught up with some of the Western Australia guys. We were 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 (after the incident). Hopefully we can now swipe this underneath the table and continue what should be a fantastic and exciting series."
ENGLAND COACH TREVOR BAYLISS: "Any team at this level will take any opportunity to get stuck into the opposition and make them feel uncomfortable wherever possible. Most people in the world like going out at night and having a couple of quiet ones. We've got to be careful that we don't do anything stupid. If that means bloody not having anything to drink then so be it. If you put yourself in that situation, you're fair game ... that's the disappointing thing, we make dumb decisions at different times."
ENGLAND CAPTAIN JOE ROOT: "For three days, we probably (for the) majority of the time outplayed Australia. It's come up the first day Australia have had a good day on the field, four weeks later. If it was a big deal it would have come up a lot earlier. It was just a bit of joshing around, boyish behaviour. I think if it was a big deal then Cameron Bancroft wouldn't have been able to go out and play for his state the following week and make a big score and make his Test debut this week."
AUSTRALIA CAPTAIN STEVE SMITH: "Dear me. Goodness. I can't talk."
AUSTRALIA BASTMAN DAVID WARNER (on field, directed at England quick Jimmy Anderson): "You shouldn't headbutt our mates."
Saturday was hard to reconcile with what we have seen over the last two months.