SOARING scorebox temperatures could not dampen Rod Clarke's enthusiasm as he made his Lord's debut in the first Test.

The Banbury and Oxfordshire scorer looked after Pakistan's book against England and thoroughly enjoyed the experience despite the heat.

"We had two fans in the scorebox, but only one was working," said Clarke.

"The last two days were pretty hot. We had the back door open as well and we brought back plenty of liquid with us from lunch."

Clarke was back in action scoring for Oxfordshire's Over 50s this week, which was a little different from his time at Lord's.

He said: "When I went up there on the Thursday morning, I got four or five text messages saying 'good luck.' "Scoring in front of 32,000 was quite something and I really enjoyed mixing with the players at lunchtime.

"I also went to the players' reception on Friday night.

"Each session when the players came out, they put the umpires' and scorers' names up on the scoreboard and announced us on the PA system."

Clarke was announced to the crowd by his nickname Nobby.

He added: "I got to meet a few personalities like Bill Frindall, David Shepherd and Dickie Bird, my umpiring hero.

"All in all I had an amazing time. I was given two corporate tickets each day and my guests all enjoyed themselves."

As for the scoring, Clarke said there were no problems, although he revealed: "We missed a no ball once, but it was one-all between us and Sky Sports because they had a bowler's name wrong to start with."