West Indies dangerous at Lord's

West Indies looked a side transformed from their woeful Test series effort as they pushed England hard in the Twenty20 games and the tourists might fancy their chances of upsetting England in the three-match one-day series, which begins on Sunday, even if the home side remain strong favourites.

Despite their poor efforts in the World Cup when they hugely disappointed on home soil, West Indies are a decent one-day side, in many ways, a better outfit than England, who have been abject in the limited overs form of the game for several years now.

Bet365 make England 8/15 (1.53) to win the opening match at Lord's on Sunday, while West Indies are an 11/8 (2.37) chance.

The stats make pretty sorry reading for England, who have won just 19 of their past 50 one-day internationals. At home, it's not much better, with just 22 successes in the last 50 on home soil.

West Indies, who seem to be able to concentrate better in the one-day game, have won 34 of their past 50 games - not bad for a side that is clearly rebuilding - and 23 of their past 50 on their travels.

Their fielding was sharp in the Twenty20 games, they applied themselves well and they bat a long way down, so England will be up against it in the three-match series.

That said, England are still the better side on paper, but, with some new faces to bed in, they may find things tougher than expected, particularly at Lord's, where they have won just two of the past 10 matches and seven of the past 20.

West Indies have something to prove in this series and I would not be at all surprised if they come out on top at Lord's, where the venue often inspires touring sides to produce their best form.