The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word DRIBBLER
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
D
R
I
B
B
L
E
R
More clues leading to the result DRIBBLER
- Possibly baby one of the babes of Busby?
- Doctor over the river one who can keep control of Balls?
- Ball-player demonstrating great skill, one salivating?
- Short drive on banks of river, one with limited water flow
- Skilful player, one with teething problems?
- Kid evidently hungry as talented ballplayer?
- Hungry baby, one on the ball?
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "one who can keep control of Balls" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case one who can keep control of balls = dribbler.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.