Cryptic crossword clue
Team almost call in reserve player from the street 5-7

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 13 letter word ORGAN-GRINDER

I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
O
R
G
A
N
-
G
R
I
N
D
E
R

Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "player from the street" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case player from the street = organ-grinder.
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.

Crossword Answer definitions

Latest crossword clues with full explanations