During opening passage of play, cricket side's doing nothing (8)
I believe the answer is:
inaction
'doing nothing' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'during opening passage of play cricket side's' is the wordplay.
'during' becomes 'in' (e.g. during February means in February).
'opening passage of play' becomes 'Act I' (first act of a play).
'cricket side' becomes 'on' (cricket term, on or leg side).
'in'+'acti'+'on'='INACTION'
(Other definitions for inaction that I've seen before include "Lethargy -- not in CIA (anag)" , "Passivity, doing nothing" , "Ionic tan (anag.)" , "Rest" , "lack of engagement" .)