Maiden cored apple in wood (5)
I believe the answer is:
maple
'wood' is the definition.
(I know that maple is a type of wood)
'maiden cored apple' is the wordplay.
'maiden' becomes 'm' (cricket abbreviation).
'cored' means to remove the middle letters.
'apple' with its centre removed is 'aple'.
'm'+'aple'='MAPLE'
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for maple that I've seen before include "Its leaf is the emblem of 8 down" , "Canadian national tree" , "Tree providing Canada's national emblem" , "Ample sort of tree" , "Ample (anag.)" .)