'I've also spent the last 24 hours crying'

Justin Nurse swims in the pool below the gym South Africa players train at when in Cape Town. He has been a big fan, and when he came across Smith after his retirement announcement, he couldn't hold back his tears. He pays an emotional tribute to the man at 2oceansvibe.com

I can't help myself though. I choose the moment when he finishes a phone call to go on over there and thank the man. I'm searching for an in - not "I'm the T-shirt guy." I mutter something about how I play soccer with Bouch at Bob's place (interpret: I'm not a crazy fan - yes I am), and how I just want to thank him for all that he's done for South African cricket. And then I just break down. I start bawling my eyes out, right there in front of him and his wife. I can't help myself, and it is pathetic to see. Blind one, as we used to say back in the 90s. I'm trying to tell him how I was with him when he came out to bat with a broken hand, how I also followed those angling sliders from Zaheer Khan that got him time and again...