Where a batsman might play a shot in front of the last defender? (7)
I believe the answer is:
offside
'where a batsman might play a shot in front' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun but the answer is not.
'of the last defender?' is the wordplay.
'the last' becomes 'f' (I've seen this in other clues).
'defender?' becomes 'side' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'of'+'f'+'side'='OFFSIDE'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for offside that I've seen before include "Illegal football position between the ball and opponents' goal" , "Illegal position for soccer player" , "in no position to score goal" , "Dies off in illegal soccer position" , "Part of vehicle furthest from kerb" .)