He finished with disappointing figures of two for 160 during the drawn Test against Sri Lanka earlier this season, was hammered nought for 62 during the NatWest Series match against India and was overlooked for the final.

He made amends for those failures, however, to claim the crucial wicket of Sachin Tendulkar, bowled comprehensively as he attempted to hit through the line for a lowly 12, sending England towards a convincing victory in the opening match of the four-Test series.

That breakthrough was Hoggard's 50th Test victim in only his 12th Test, becoming the third fastest England bowler to reach the milestone after Ian Botham (10 Tests) and Dominic Cork (11).

His moment was overshadowed by a worrying loophole in MCC security which allowed the guest of a member to walk unchallenged from the pavilion onto the outfield and accompany Tendulkar as he made his way back to the dressing room.

The man, who is believed to be a member of the Melbourne Cricket Club who have a reciprocal arrangement with Lord's, was arrested immediately.

Once the furore had settled down, Hoggard followed up by dismissing Sourav Ganguly with his next delivery, given leg before in his crease.

He failed to claim a Test hat-trick with VVS Laxman blocking the next ball, but with Ashley Giles fortuitously removing Rahul Dravid seven overs later - when he chopped onto his stumps from outside off stump - England were closing in on victory.

Hoggard struck again three overs later, his third wicket for nine runs in only 32 balls, when Ajay Ratra edged to gully and Mark Butcher took a brilliant diving catch.

Any hopes of forcing victory with a day to spare were frustrated by Laxman and Ajit Agarkar who frustrated England's best efforts for overs and forged an unbroken 62-run partnership spanning 18 overs to leave India 335 adrift on 232 for six at close.

England had begun the day 450 runs ahead on 184 for three and paced their innings superbly to declare half an hour before lunch after centuries from Michael Vaughan and John Crawley propelled them to 301 for six.