At the crease, openers bagging runs — people unlikely to applaud? (8)
I believe the answer is:
ingrates
'people unlikely to applaud?' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'at the crease openers bagging runs' is the wordplay.
'at' becomes 'in' (synonymous in some cases - eg at school, in school).
'the crease openers' becomes 'gates' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'bagging' indicates putting letters inside (bag can mean to take or obtain).
'runs' becomes 'r' (cricket abbreviation).
'gates' placed around 'r' is 'grates'.
'in'+'grates'='INGRATES'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ingrates that I've seen before include "unappreciative people" , "Thankless ones" , "selfish people" , "Thankless wretches" , "They have no feelings of gratitude" .)