Here's hoping I spring a surprise (8)
I believe the answer is:
aspiring
'here's hoping' is the definition.
(to aspire is to hope)
'i spring a surprise' is the wordplay.
'i spring a' can be anagrammed to 'ASPIRING'.
Though, I'm not clear how this is indicated.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for aspiring that I've seen before include "Having a strong desire to achieve something" , "Strongly desiring to achieve" , "Wanting to get high" , "Ambitious, hopeful" , "Would-be" .)