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In major contests, let's bat cannily (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

battles

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'in major contests let's bat cannily' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'in major contests let's bat' is the wordplay.
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'major contests' becomes 'bats' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'bat' is an anagram indicator (I've seen 'batted' mean this).
'let' is an anagram of 'tle'.
'bats' placed around 'tle' is 'BATTLES'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for battles that I've seen before include "Military set pieces" , "Campaigns" , "Lengthy conflicts" , "Military engagements" , "Fights, conflicts" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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