{"id":837283,"date":"2026-03-20T00:36:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T00:36:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/837283\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T00:36:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T00:36:17","slug":"lockie-ferguson-to-miss-ipl-2026-start-puts-family-first-help-my-wife-out-cricket-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/837283\/","title":{"rendered":"Lockie Ferguson to miss IPL 2026 start, puts family first: &#8216;Help my wife out&#8217; | Cricket News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <img src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/bengaluru-new-zealand39s-lockie-ferguson-reacts-during-the-icc-men39s-cricket-wor.jpg\" alt=\"Lockie Ferguson to miss IPL 2026 start, puts family first: 'Help my wife out'\" title=\"Lockie Ferguson (PTI Photo\/Shailendra Bhojak)\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>Lockie Ferguson (PTI Photo\/Shailendra Bhojak) NEW DELHI: <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/lockie-ferguson\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Lockie Ferguson<\/a> will miss the early part of IPL 2026 as he chooses to spend time with his family after recently becoming a father. The fast bowler, who plays for Punjab Kings, is expected to join the squad later in the tournament after taking a short break from cricket.Ferguson explained his decision. &#8220;Just had a wee son, trying to spend as much time as I can at home and help my wife out,&#8221; he said ahead of the 3rd T20I against New Zealand, as quoted by ESPNCricinfo. &#8220;I&#8217;ll have a few weeks off after this, before sort of heading to the later stages of the <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/sports\/cricket\/ipl\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">IPL<\/a> and away for the winter.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p> Watch<\/p>\n<p> Shashi Tharoor &amp; Samson\u2019s Redemption Story: From Setbacks to GloryHe had earlier taken only a brief break during the T20 World Cup 2026, spending just a few days with his family before returning to play. Now, he wants a longer rest to balance personal life and cricket. Ferguson said he still enjoys representing the New Zealand national cricket team, adding, &#8220;Always a pleasure playing for the Black Caps, really enjoyed my time in India with the group again.&#8221; In his absence, Punjab Kings may turn to players like Ben Dwarshuis, along with other pace options in their squad.<\/p>\n<p>Commitment to New Zealand and future goals<\/p>\n<p>Ferguson made it clear he is not stepping away from international cricket. He said, &#8220;They thought this was my last game (laughs). No, I&#8217;m still very committed to play for New Zealand.&#8221;Looking ahead, he is focused on upcoming global tournaments and added, &#8220;Looking forward to the next two World Cups, there&#8217;s a great opportunity for our squad.&#8221; He also mentioned working hard to stay fit and contribute to the team.On the growth of cricket, Ferguson supported the idea of a franchise T20 league in New Zealand, saying, &#8220;I think it&#8217;s exciting that there&#8217;s a prospect at a franchise tournament,&#8221; and highlighted the country\u2019s talent and potential to showcase its cricket on a bigger stage.<a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/microsite_v2\/website-toisa,path-book_pass_2026.cms?utm_source=TOI&amp;utm_medium=Masthead_sports\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" frmappuse=\"1\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Banner Insert\" imgsize=\"23456\" resizemode=\"4\" title=\"\" offsetvertical=\"0\" placeholdersrc=\"\" placeholdermsid=\"\" msid=\"\" type=\"thumb\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/129493222.cms.jpeg\" data-api-prerender=\"true\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lockie Ferguson (PTI Photo\/Shailendra Bhojak) NEW DELHI: Lockie Ferguson will miss the early part of IPL 2026 as&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":837284,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4101],"tags":[1406,11096,104095,239871,239870,5710,117778,224437,102979,5717,79,53318,16,15],"class_list":["post-837283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-cricket","tag-cricket-news","tag-cricket-updates","tag-cricketer-career","tag-franchise-t20-league","tag-ipl","tag-ipl-2026","tag-lockie-ferguson","tag-new-zealand-cricket","tag-punjab-kings","tag-sports","tag-t20-world-cup-2026","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116258707132356750","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=837283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837283\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/837284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=837283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=837283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=837283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}