By Justin Parkinson BBC News Online education staff

An exam marker reportedly had one eye on the game

School governor Carole Nadin told BBC News Online she saw the man take answer sheets from his briefcase during the game at Chelmsford, Essex.

After marking them on his lap, he passed some to two friends, who laughed as they read students' answers.

Mrs Nadin, from Banbury, Oxfordshire, said: "It irritated me. It's not something that should be going on.

'Pretty blatant'

"My two eldest sons have taken GCSEs fairly recently. I would be horrified to think it was all the care taken over their papers after years of hard work.

"If you are watching a cricket match, it would be impossible to give marking 100% of your attention. It's also pretty blatant."

Mrs Nadin said the examiner had been at the National League match, between the Warwickshire Bears and the Essex Eagles, from start to finish, with another man and a teenage boy.

She said: "At first I thought it was just a teacher marking exercise books. But when I looked more carefully I could see they were exam booklets.

"As we were sitting there, the man was going through and marking papers.

"He was just leaning on his briefcase. We heard him say 'They've made the same point five times' and he passed one of the papers to his friends.

"Two teachers sitting nearby said it was no wonder exams had to be remarked if this went on."

George Turnbull, spokesman for the Joint Council for General Qualifications, which represents GCSE and A-level exam boards, said: "It is made quite clear to examiners that they must not mark in public places.

"There is no debate over that. Anyone working in such circumstances is doing so outside the regulations.