Currently at the crease and hopeless? (2-3)
I believe the answer is:
no-win
'hopeless?' is the definition.
'currently at the crease' is the wordplay.
'currently' becomes 'now' (I've seen this in other clues).
'at the crease' becomes 'in' (cricket term).
'now'+'in'='NO-WIN'
'and' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for no-win that I've seen before include "Denoting situation in which success is impossible" , "Certain to end in failure" .)