Choose English team's first striker (6)
I believe the answer is:
picket
'striker' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'choose english team's first' is the wordplay.
'choose' becomes 'pick' (picking is a kind of choosing).
'english' becomes 'E' (abbreviation).
'team's first' becomes 't' (1st letter of 'team').
'pick'+'e'+'t'='PICKET'
(Other definitions for picket that I've seen before include "Person or group attempting to dissuade workers during strike" , "Wooden fencing stake" , "Type of wooden fence" , "Strike line; stake" , "Group outside workplace encouraging strike action" .)