Already a man down when they got on the plane, England’s cricketers were firmly reminded of their professional responsibilities before departing to Australia.

Nobody expects young men to live like monks on a foreign tour lasting many months, but these were exceptional circumstances, it was pointed out.

Jonny Bairstow would have been among those told in no uncertain terms there could be no repeat of the late drinking sessions that culminated in the arrest of Ben Stokes in Bristol in September. The agreement was to be self-policing. That didn’t last long.

Jonny Bairstow (back) is alleged to have headbutted Cameron Bancroft (front) in a bar in Perth

The England team agreed to a policy of self-policing which doesn't seem to have worked

Bairstow was one of those disciplined for staying out late on the night of Stokes arrest, but clearly, the message didn’t get through.

When he was involved in an angry confrontation with Australian batsman Cameron Bancroft, at a students’ venue nicknamed The Spew Bar, allegedly ending in a headbutt, this tour was one day old. Young men can go a day without letting off steam, surely?

Whatever the context, increasingly it appears English cricket has a discipline problem, and an unhelpful thirst. The players gravitate towards bars, and behave more boisterously than is healthy. The freedom allowed by the ECB and its management is being abused.

Some will argue the latest allegations are no more than Australian mischief making – but it is easier for mischief to be made if the players allow themselves to be compromised in this way.

Bairstow is alleged to have headbutted Cameron Bancroft in a bar in Perth

Why was Bairstow in Bancroft’s orbit in the first place? Is there just the one bar in Perth, or could England’s players have gone elsewhere?

It always seemed strange that David Warner and Joe Root should end up having the same late night in Birmingham in 2013, so why would England as good as seek out the haunts of Australian cricketers?

Bancroft wasn’t even playing in the match. He was waiting to fly out to a Sheffield Shield game in Sydney. It is as if all sides have come looking for trouble.

There is a feeling that the Ashes tour might already be starting to unravel for England

Most certainly, Bairstow has now found it. The sight of ECB executives in earnest conversation with Fox Sports journalists on the boundary ropes long after The Gabba had emptied on Sunday was the first sign all was not well.

Deep into the night the ECB were still putting out fires, issuing holding statements while investigations into Bairstow’s conduct continued.

Even if the incident goes no further, what does it say about levels of discipline that Bairstow could disregard all of what he heard prior to coming here? Is this tour now unravelling like so many before it?

A pity that England’s players are not determined to show as much fight on the cricket field as they have been in bars of late.

They might not have spent the night staring at the possibility of a ten wicket defeat.