Boycott, say, Frenchman rejected after work (6)
I believe the answer is:
opener
'boycott say' is the definition.
(Geoffrey Boycott famous opening batsman)
'frenchman rejected after work' is the wordplay.
'frenchman' becomes 'rene' (common French name).
'rejected' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'after' says to put letters next to each other.
'work' becomes 'op' (abbreviation for opus).
'rene' written backwards gives 'ener'.
'ener' after 'op' is 'OPENER'.
(Other definitions for opener that I've seen before include "man, first at the crease?" , "leading batsman" , "cricketer, first at the crease?" , "Tool for taking lid off a can" , "player, first to bat" .)