They walk out to face the new ball (7)
I believe the answer is:
openers
'they' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are plural nouns.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?
'walk out to face the new ball' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'new' could be 'n' (common abbreviation eg NT for New Testament) and 'n' is found within the answer.
'ball' could be 'o' (letter resembling a ball) and 'o' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'peers' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for openers that I've seen before include "They are useful for tinned food" , "Keys" , "Batsmen Nos 1 and 2" , "in demand at picnics" , "Batsmen going in first" .)