Stage before drive shows cricketing skill (3,4)
I believe the answer is:
leg spin
'cricketing skill' is the definition.
'stage before drive' is the wordplay.
'stage' becomes 'leg' (a leg is a stage of a competition).
'before' says to put letters next to each other.
'drive' becomes 'spin' (I've seen this before).
'leg'+'spin'='LEG-SPIN'
'shows' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for leg spin that I've seen before include "Style of bowling" , "Delivery method" , "Bowling technique" , "Form of delivery" , "Type of bowling" .)