A left-handed batsman and occasional right-arm medium bowler for Surrey and Sussex, Ward played 5 times for the England Test team all in 2001 under the captaincy of future Sky sports colleague Nasser Hussain.
[4] Without a county for the following five years, he worked as a petrol station attendant, barman and aircraft cleaner, while continuing to play club cricket.
[15] Having scored 6,923 runs for Surrey at an average of 40.01, including 17 centuries, Ward left the county for a second time in 2003, opting to join Northumberland for the 2004 season.
[19] Yet to make his Test debut at the time, he was employed at short notice upon the recommendation of Mark Butcher, the England batsmen and teammate of Ward at Surrey.
During that series, he anchored coverage from the 'Ashes Zone', which, drawing upon his professional cricket experience, saw Ward and guests perform detailed technical analysis.