Tick … Tick … Tick … World Cup coming, ready or not

Sunday Times

TELFORD VICE, Cape Town

If AB de Villiers and his men wonder what that ticking is as they step over the boundary today to play the first of three one-day internationals against Sri Lanka in Colombo, it is the sound of their countdown to the World Cup.

SA have eight months and more than 20 games to ensure that, when the alarm goes off, their awakening is not rude. The Sri Lankans, who are ranked a place above the visitors, would prefer the ticking to be followed by a boom.

De Villiers...