Mark Boucher: I had the coronavirus without knowing it

South Africa head coach Mark Boucher revealed Thursday that he had been a victim of coronavirus without knowing he had contracted the disease Boucher was speaking ahead of limited overs series against England which starts with the first Twenty20 international in Cape Town on November 27An unnamed South African player tested positive for Covid19 when the South Africans assembled Wednesday He and two others with whom the infected player had close contact have been separated from the rest of the squad and will stay in isolation while being monitored by the teams medical staffAccording to a statement from Cricket South Africa all three were asymptomatic Boucher said he sympathised with the affected players Sitting alone in a room for six or seven days is very tough said Boucher adding that he had been fortunate to have had a mild dose of the disease I didnt even know I had it he said I felt a little down for one or two days I had been throwing down to some players in the nets and felt some aches and pains Covid is bigger than sport said Boucher He said that in line with a call from President Cyril Ramaphosa for a period of mourning he expected flags to be at halfmast during the first two matches in honour of victims of coronavirus and genderbased violence and it was possible that players would wear black armbandsTough issuesBut he indicated that it was unlikely players would take a knee as they did before a threeteam domestic match in July Its not something we have to continue to show its something that we have to live Boucher said he welcomed the series against England after a bruising winter during which Covid boardroom battles and controversy over racism dominated headlines We have to put that behind us We are in a position to put some good news in South African cricket he said We had some tough issues to deal with he said of a culture camp in August held at a time when fissures in race relations in South African cricket were exposedBoucher said he was happy with the outcome of the camp We have started afresh and restructured our values he said It is all based on performance We want to be nice and aggressive but we need to be smart Boucher said he was not concerned about being in a biobubble until the series ends on December 9 Weve been on tours where there have been security issues which have meant we have had to stay in our hotels We are in a fantastic hotel with lots of open space and we have spoken to other teams that have been in bubbles Playing international matches with no spectators would be an unusual experience but there will be no lack of passion and we know that people will be watching usKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates hereAlso download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever