Man in play catching female criminal (10)

I believe the answer is:

malefactor

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'criminal' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'man in play catching female' is the wordplay.
'man' becomes 'male'.
'in play catching female' becomes 'factor' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'male'+'factor'='MALEFACTOR'

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(Other definitions for malefactor that I've seen before include "bad person?" , "Wrongdoer" , "culprit?" , "Criminal, evil-doer" , "Sinner" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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