London, Jun 29 (IANS): Former England captain Ian Botham claimed he had contracted the deadly coronavirus at the start of the year which he thought to be was a 'bad case of flu'.

COVID-19 has ravaged through the entire world with more than 311,000 people being infected in the UK alone while in excess of 43,000 individual have lost their lives so far.

"I think the thing to remember is that six months ago no-one even knew what this was, hadn't heard of it," Botham said on the show Good Morning Britain as per thenorthernecho.co.uk.

"I've actually had it. I had it at the end of December, beginning of January, and I thought I had a bad case of flu.

"It's amazing how long it has been around, we don't know all the details. It was very much a sort of in the dark, let's see what happens," he added.

"I think people have been responding extremely well. I hope they show a bit more patience over the next couple of weeks or so, so we can get to a situation where everybody can move around."

Botham, who is Durham's chairman, also spoke about the potential return of club cricket in the country, which remains suspended in the wake of the pandemic despite international cricket being given a go ahead.

Pubs and cafes are set to open from July 4 but recreational cricket and club cricket in England haven't recieved permission to go ahead yet. British PM Boris Johnson had earlier said 'ball is a natural vector of disease'.

"I think cricket will be back very shortly. I believe there is a couple of meetings coming up where the decisions will be made," Botham said.

"From my point of view, speaking to the boys at Durham, they are back in training, they are very, very keen to get out there and play, as any young sportsman.

"There is talk about whether it is white ball or red ball cricket – it should be both, all aspects of the game should come back," the legendary all-rounder added.