Crossword Genius

Judgement on top batsman’s early drink of alcohol (3-6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

eye-opener

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

'drink of alcohol' is the definition.
'eye opener' can be an answer for 'drink' (eye opener is a kind of drink). I am not sure about the 'of alcohol' bit.

'judgement on top batsman's early' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'judgement' could be 'eye' (eye is a kind of judgement) and 'eye' is present in the answer.
'batsman' could be 'opener' (I've seen this before) and 'opener' is located in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for eye-opener that I've seen before include "Startling revelation" , "Fact that surprises or enlightens in optical way" , "Startling thing" , "Surprising fact - like wake up call" , "This surprises greatly - makes you look" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app