Controls the French cricket trophy (7)
I believe the answer is:
leashes
'controls' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'the french cricket trophy' is the wordplay.
'the french' becomes 'le' ('the' in French).
'cricket trophy' becomes 'ashes' (I've seen this before).
'le'+'ashes'='LEASHES'
(Other definitions for leashes that I've seen before include "Restraints for animals" , "Animal controls" .)