News of Sir Donald Bradman's passing has hit one of New Zealand's young Black Caps particularly hard. Lou Vincent, whose family moved from Auckland to Adelaide when he was 12, once wagged school to pay an unannounced visit to the legendary batsman - and was welcomed into his home.

Says Vincent, who was 14 at the time, "My mate and I had found out where Sir Donald lived, and did the kind of thing that 14-year-olds do: we bludged school for the day and caught a bus out to his house in Kensington.

"He wasn't home, but we waited about three hours until he got back. And then he invited us into his living room, sat us down and we had a drink and talked about cricket. He was so friendly. He signed a couple of personal items for me, which I've got hanging up in my room to this day."

Vincent says that when he heard of Sir Donald's death, it was "gutting".

"It was a pretty upsetting day, that's for sure. He was the legend. I'll never forget meeting him. We were just a couple of naughty schoolkids, you know, turning up on the great man's doorstep when we should have been at school - and he was just so kind to us. He was much more than just a cricketer."

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