Disaster following maiden through city (8)
I believe the answer is:
calamity
'disaster' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'following maiden through city' is the wordplay.
'following' becomes 'ala' (I've seen this in another clue).
'maiden' becomes 'm' (cricket abbreviation).
'through' indicates putting letters inside (inserted letters go through the word).
'ala'+'m'='alam'
'alam' placed inside 'city' is 'CALAMITY'.
(Other definitions for calamity that I've seen before include "Martha Jane Cannary" , "Tragedy" , "15 [JANE] the frontierswoman" , "A disaster, like Western heroine Jane" , "Damaging event" .)