Mother is French and runs international experts (7)
I believe the answer is:
maestri
'experts' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'mother is french and runs international' is the wordplay.
'mother' becomes 'ma' (ma is a kind of mother).
'is french' becomes 'est' (I've seen this in other clues).
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'runs' becomes 'r' (cricket abbreviation).
'international' becomes 'i' (abbreviation eg in IMF).
'ma'+'est'+'r'+'i'='MAESTRI'
(Other definitions for maestri that I've seen before include "Famous conductors" , "Top conductors" , "Experts" , "great musicians" , "Distinguished musicians" .)