By Ayanjit Sen BBC correspondent in Pakistan

Conditions for batting could hardly have been more perfect in the first two matches of Pakistan's home series against India.

Each innings saw a score in excess of 300 as the two sides set new standards in the art of one-day batsmanship.

There are very few Englishmen involved in the series apart from those sitting in the press box.

Atkinson: An Englishman who enjoys the mid-day sun

But Andy Atkinson is responsible for one of the most important facets of the game in this series - preparing the pitches.

And Atkinson, who hails from Essex, believes his job is a lot easier in the sub-continent than in England.

"Due to variable weather in the UK, we toil hard to keep the wickets dry but bright sunshine here makes our work less difficult. It makes life much easier for us in this part of the world," he said.

"I have prepared wickets here for this one day series which should favour the batsman a little more than the bowlers and most matches should be high scoring ones," said Atkinson, who was head groundsman of Lord's for three years.

Atkinson revealed that home players can have a say in preparing the pitches, but insisted "here we have laid the wickets without any interference".

He said: "We had spoken to the Pakistan cricket board regarding this and they gave us the go-ahead."

Atkinson is delighted to be involved in a series which will go down in history.

"I know there is a massive interest in India-Pakistan cricket matches and its feels great to be part of it," he said.

And If Atkinson has his way, the excitement is unlikely to wane as he made it clear he also prefers pitches which produce results for Test cricket.

"They should not be boring batting wickets only where 500 or 600 runs are scored by each team and the match ends in a tame draw," he said.