Ball's carried for English playmaker (7)
I believe the answer is:
osborne
'english playmaker' is the definition.
(playwright John Osborne)
'ball's carried' is the wordplay.
'ball's' becomes 'os'.
'carried' becomes 'borne' (I've seen this before).
'os'+'borne'='OSBORNE'
'for' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for osborne that I've seen before include "Q. Victoria's IOW home" , "Look Back in Anger writer" , "grand island house" , "Queen Victoria's IOW house" , "13 across's IOW house" .)