Jumbo crossword No 3

Blimey - getting twenty-four different decent fifteen-letter answers to play ball must have been quite the challenge, let alone writing clues for them, but it's one you rose to masterfully! Big virtual ticks went against 9a, 27a, 31a ("place value" !), 42a ("noise from snake" !!), 43a, 44a, 21d ("B-tier" !!!), 23d (did not clock what the surface was implying until afterwards, for my shame) & 24d... so, like, a fifth of the entire puzzle. Thanks for the good time!