Batsman, old, appearing before new in match (6)
I believe the answer is:
opener
'batsman' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'old appearing before new in match' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'old' could be 'o' (common abbreviation eg in OE for Old English) and 'o' is located in the answer.
'before' could be 'e' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'e' is present in the answer.
'new' could be 'n' (common abbreviation eg NT for New Testament) and 'n' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'per' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for opener that I've seen before include "In cricket, a batsman who plays the first ball of an innings" , "Device for accessing contents of tins or bottles" , "Leading cricketer" , "Tins need one" , "First act" .)