Assume control, and do a spot of bowling? (4,4)
I believe the answer is:
take over
'assume control' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'spot of bowling?' is the wordplay.
'spot of' becomes 'take' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'bowling?' becomes 'over' (cricket term).
'take'+'over'='TAKE-OVER'
'and do a' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for take over that I've seen before include "Act of assuming control" , "This bid is for control of a business" , "Company buyout" , "Buying out of one company by another" , "Assume control of" .)