TV’s Matt Smith swapped his microphone for a shopping bag last year during the height of the pandemic.
The BT Sport presenter applied for a job as a Tesco delivery driver when there were no games to host on Tele.
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He has now been forced to leave the van and go back to the day’s job of pitching England’s Ashes tilt in Australia.
But the 54-year-old revealed that he is trying to keep the plates spinning in cricket’s biggest rivalry by making a few changes in the middle of Tests.
He told the Times: “The honest answer is that I did it for a couple of reasons.
“With no sports on TV at that time, I was sitting at home and I didn’t have much to do.
“But I also thought it would be good to get out there and help people in difficult times, especially those in isolation.
“I’ve found the experience quite grounding, actually. It puts things in perspective.
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“You get to reach all kinds of people, which is what I love, and for some clients you may really be their only point of contact throughout the day.”
Smith covered England’s nine-wicket loss in the opening Test from BT’s London studio.
Doing so meant he could get his hands on his local Tesco—though he had to convince his boss he wouldn’t be around as much.
He continued: “At one stage I was doing about 20 hours a week for Tesco, but I only had to cut it down to a couple of shifts.
“I was doing my delivery on Monday night.
“I’ve explained to the manager at my local branch that I won’t be there for the next few weeks because of cricket, but he’s okay with that.”
Smith is best known for his time at ITV where he covered four World Cups and his Champions League output.
He left in 2015 and has worked mostly for BT Sport since then.
