The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word FIELDING
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
F
I
E
L
D
I
N
G
More clues leading to the result FIELDING
- English novelist’s description of one cricket team
- British writer once / playing cricket, perhaps
- Writer of The Third Man might be doing it in play
- English novelist employed at Lord’s, possibly?
- The author is not in
- In the slips, say, but competitors playing golf
- Playing cricket, competitors now favoured golf
- Dealing with what those who aren’t in should be doing
- Henry in the covers?
- British writer of picaresque novels placed in covers, say
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Writer" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case writer = fielding.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.
What does FIELDING mean?
FIELDING verb- To intercept or catch (a ball) and play it.
- (and other batting sports) To be the team catching and throwing the ball, as opposed to hitting it.
- To place (a team, its players, etc.) in a game.
- To answer; to address.
- To defeat.
- To execute research (in the field).
- To deploy in the field.
- The act of one who fields.
- The role of a fielder.