Andrew Strauss defends England players after latest controversy: 'These guys are not thugs'

England team director Andrew Strauss has defended the character of the squad following the controversy over Jonny Bairstow’s headbutt and recurrent questions about the team’s drinking culture. “These guys are not thugs,” said Strauss. “These are good, honest, hard-working cricketers who sacrifice a lot to play for England and I will back them to the hilt.”

But Strauss admitted that Jonny Bairstow had shown “naivete” in head-butting Australian opener Cameron Bancroft, a misunderstood greeting that has turned him into a fleeting figure of fun amongst Australia’s players and media. Bairstow was sledged about the incident while batting on Sunday, and shortly afterwards played a rash upper cut straight to third man.

Bancroft gave his own recollection of events in a surreal press conference on Monday, and there is a recognition in the England camp that even though Bairstow broke no rules, the quirkiness of his actions has left England open to ridicule. “This is an incident of our own making,” Strauss said, adding that he and coach Trevor Bayliss would speak to the squad to reiterate the importance of behaving appropriately on nights out.

“There’s a lot more clarity now as to what players can and can’t do. And we also need to recognise that sport is moving on. What might have been acceptable in the old days is no longer acceptable. The players need to be smarter. They are intelligent adults, and at times they are not using that intelligence in the right way.”

Privately, England are seething that a matter of such triviality has been allowed to derail their preparations for the crucial second Ashes Test in Adelaide. Curfews are likely to be tightened, and a self-imposed ban on drinking in the days leading up to a Test will continue to be enforced. But a total alcohol ban, Strauss said, was not feasible.

“It is unrealistic to say to someone that you’re going on tour and you can’t have a drop of alcohol for five months,” he said. “There are times when alcohol is inappropriate from a performance point of view. But look at the fitness results over the last two years. We’ve gone up substantially. I don’t think we’re different to any other team, no different to any other sport.”

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England fly to Adelaide on Monday morning 1-0 down in the series, and with the momentum firmly against them. Yet Strauss, the last England captain to win a series in Australia, played down fears that the tour was already beginning to spiral out of control after Australia’s crushing 10-wicket win at Brisbane.

“Let’s just bear in mind where we’ve been,” Strauss insisted. “It’s been a very harmonious start to the tour. The first three days, we played some excellent cricket and went toe-to-toe with Australia. The last 24 hours or so have been very disappointing, but we will only know the full consequences and context of that at the end of the series.”