Cricket administrator adapted this incentive system with merit increases, to start with (6,3,5)
I believe the answer is:
carrot and stick
'cricket administrator adapted this' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot judge whether it can be defined by this definition.
'incentive system with merit increases to start with' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'incentive' could be 'carrot' (as in a carrot and stick) and 'carrot' is located in the answer.
'with' could be 'and' and 'and' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'stick' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for carrot and stick that I've seen before include "inducements?" , "Pushing through root and branch" , "Contrasting incentives" , "Spurs" , "Different drivers" .)