Strike with ace bowled in practice (5)
I believe the answer is:
habit
'practice' is the definition.
(habit is a kind of practice)
'strike with ace bowled' is the wordplay.
'strike' becomes 'hit' ('hit' can be a synonym of 'strike').
'with' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'ace' becomes 'a'.
'bowled' becomes 'b' (cricket abbreviation).
'a'+'b'='ab'
'hit' enclosing 'ab' is 'HABIT'.
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for habit that I've seen before include "Ingrained behaviour" , "Monk's robe or repetitive action" , "It's worn in order" , "Riding garment" , "Custom; clothing" .)