Crossword Genius

Sailor reading wrong material (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

gabardine

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

'material' is the definition.
(I know that gabardine is a type of material)

'sailor reading wrong' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'sailor' could be 'ab' (abbreviation for able seaman) and 'ab' is located in the answer.
an anagram of 'reading' is 'gardine' which is located in the left over letters.
No letters remain.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for gabardine that I've seen before include "material" , "raincoat" , "cloth" , "Bargained for strong fabric" , "durable fabric" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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