The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 letter word FIELDS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
F
I
E
L
D
S
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Yesteryear’s songstress/participates in cricket match" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case yesteryear’s songstress/participates in cricket match = fields.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 FIELDS mean?
FIELDS noun- A land area free of woodland, cities, and towns; open country.
- A wide, open space that is usually used to grow crops or to hold farm animals.
- A place where competitive matches are carried out.
- Any of various figurative meanings, regularly dead metaphors.
- 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.