Christopher, the former Kent player? (5)
I believe the answer is:
reeve
'christopher' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are singular nouns.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?
'former kent player?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'player?' could be 'e' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'e' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'reve' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'the' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for reeve that I've seen before include "Old judge" , "estate supervisor" , "Mediaeval officer; ruff's mate" , "Former magistrate" , "Former official - female ruff" .)