Just a 15-minute cab ride from the nightspot in suburban Claremont that has been the location of two separate instances of off-field drama for Joe Root's men on this tour, Bairstow left a far more welcome mark on England's campaign with a fourth Test hundred.

He crowned it with a mock headbutting of his helmet, in recognition of the bizarre greeting he offered Cameron Bancroft in the student bar back in late October that would become headline news when the Australian players sledged him about it during the first Test at the Gabba.

Rightly or wrongly, the episode caused a great deal of trouble for England, again highlighting suggestions of a drinking culture that was born out of the Ben Stokes' incident on a street in Bristol in September and given further weight when players returned to the Avenue bar last week and England Lions batsman Ben Duckett poured a drink over the head of James Anderson.

Bairstow could afford to have a sense of humour as he celebrated on day two of the third Test on Friday. With 119 from 215 balls, the 28-year-old contributed to a 237-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Dawid Malan (140) that was the backbone of England's first innings in Perth.

The Australians had given him a mouthful from the field in Brisbane - and according to Bairstow about more than just the Bancroft headbutting affair - but while they put him off his game there, he was up to everything at the WACA, no matter how short the bowling.

"Dodge, dip and dive," Bairstow joked about his approach when peppered by the Australian quicks.

Of his humorous celebration he said: "I've played in a few Ashes series now [and] to score an Ashes hundred is something you dream about as a kid. it's eluded me until now. It was a whole heap of emotions that came through. It was a bit of light-hearted fun with everything that's gone on and that's exactly the way it should be taken."

There was also a look to the sky in acknowledgement of his late father David, a former England wicketkeeper. "Naturally you want people to be around. That is something that kind of naturally happens."

Bairstow's ton, his first against Australia, justified his promotion up the order from No.7 to No.6 in a swap with Moeen Ali, a move that former England players had been calling for from the confines of the commentary box since the start of the series.

"You want to make an Ashes hundred," he said. "You want to look back in the archives when you're retired and say to your kids and your grandkids, 'I made an Ashes hundred at the WACA away from home'. It meant a huge amount."

Bairstwo lost his middle stump and his wicket, at the hands of Mitchell Starc, in the midst of an England collapse but could still hold his head very high.