Steven Ledger reflects on decorated Sunshine Coast cricket career
Sunshine Coast’s all-time leading run scorer Steven Ledger steps onto the pitch with a mission to honor those who’ve shaped his journey. Front of mind is his late twin brother Michael, who sparked their shared passion for cricket as children.
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Every time Steven Ledger walks out to bat, he hopes to honour everyone who has played a role in his life.
From his cricket coaches, the water runners, the canteen crew, his staff on the farm, teammates, family and of course his late twin brother Michael.
Despite overcoming a number of battles on the other side of the boundary rope, including losing Michael to cancer just weeks after their 21st birthday, Ledger is the Sunshine Coast’s most decorated batsman with more than 10,000 runs to his name.
The now 41-year-old dairy farmer was raised on a sugarcane farm in Diddillibah by his mum Betty, father Grant and alongside his siblings Michael, Allan and Mary-Anne.
Ledger always knew he was going to represent the Nambour Cutters, eventually following in the footsteps of three generations before him.
When Ledger and Michael were 10-years-old they began playing for the Nambour under-12 team, a goal they shared after numerous hours of backyard contests and battles on the outskirts of the Nambour showgrounds.
The name S.Ledger on the scoresheet quickly turned into the nickname ‘Sledger’ which has stuck around for as long as he can remember.
“Dad would always play on Saturdays too while mum was in the canteen, so we spent our entire weekends at various cricket ovals,” he said.
“When dad would play at Nambour we would play on any patches of concrete we could find at the Showgrounds or around the boundary of the field.”
The keen Brisbane Broncos NRL fan rose through the grades as a junior before earning the call-up into what was then known as Nambour’s colts team.
The side, which competed in third grade, was made up of three or four senior players and the rest being 15, 16 or 17-year-olds.
Nambour’s side at the time was captained by future club president and life member Grant Ledger, a talented all rounder who served as a lower order batsmen and damaging fast bowler.
“Playing with dad was special for me, I only got to play about three odd games with him and I probably didn’t appreciate it as much as I should’ve at the time but that’s a core memory I still have,” Ledger said.
“I was still a skinny little kid that batted in the middle order and back then I definitely didn’t have enough power to play as aggressively as I do now.”
After cracking into Nambour’s first grade side for the 1999-00 season, it took Ledger just two seasons before he was scooped up to represent the Sunshine Coast Scorchers first grade side in 2001.
Ledger recorded 444 runs during his first stint with the Scorchers and gained selection in the Queensland under-19 team during the 2002-03 season.
With a career on the rise, Ledger’s ambitions were quickly put in perspective when he found out the news of Michael’s bone cancer diagnoses in November 2002.
“I still remember sitting in the change rooms at Maroochydore, minding my own business before our coach at the time Ian Moffat sat down and talked to me for what seemed like hours,” Steven said.
“It was a very helpless period, it’s not a fun thing to watch someone go through a battle like he did.
Michael spent the first three months in Brisbane where he underwent chemotherapy and had his mother Betty travel to the hospital each day.
“Mum definitely took it the hardest with all the travel and seeing him each day,” Steven said.
“The time also coincided with the start of our dairy farm, which Michael was a big part of, so it meant I had to take charge and any cricket duties were pushed aside.”
The Scorchers and wider sporting community planned and put on a number of fundraising initiatives for the Ledger family.
Michael battled his cancer on and off for two years, undergoing various stints of chemotherapy and time in remission before the cancer returned in August 2004.
“Doctors said they couldn’t do anymore, which is when everything escalated and got really tough,” Steven said.
“Michael was very accepting of it, he knew he had given it his best shot and it was his time.
“He was truly unbelievable with it all as his approach made it easier for those around him.”
Michael Parsons Ledger passed away on October 16, 2004, just two weeks after celebrating his 21st birthday.
“He was my brother and my best friend,” Steven said.
“It took a long time for me to get over losing him and I’m not actually sure I’m over it now but we’ve made our peace with it and losing people is a part of life unfortunately.”
Ledger was still a touted Scorchers player at that stage, appearing seven times for the first grade side during the 2003-04 season, five times for the second grade side and 14 matches with his Nambour outfit.
The cricketing community honoured Michael’s passing with a minute’s silence and black armbands as Ledger and Allan headed out to the middle of the Showgrounds to contest Maroochydore.
Ledger top scored with 49 runs while 18-year-old opening bowler Allan Ledger snared the first two wickets.
Ledger put a stop to his Scorchers commitments but helped shape Nambour’s Michael Ledger Day, a charity event celebrating Michael’s life through fundraising efforts and matches between past and present Cutters players.
“Ian Gibson, who was president at the time, came up with the idea which was a fantastic day for us all to come together and play some cricket,” Steven said.
Now 20 years later, the charity day has morphed into Nambour’s Pink Stumps fundraiser day for the McGrath Foundation.
Ledger played hurt the following season, but produced some inspiring individual efforts with the bat to finish as the competition’s leading run scorer in 2005-06 and 2006-07.
At 26-years-old, Ledger was back in Scorchers colours where he played 25 matches between 2009-10 to 2012-13, scoring 784 runs.
By 2013-14, Ledger was back in Nambour colours for good, spanning an impressive 12 straight seasons in the first division.
The aggressive, heavy hitter finished as the competition’s leading run scorer again in 2017-18 as well as 2020-21.
In his 200th senior appearance for Nambour, during the 2020-21 season, Ledger found his name in the history books once again with 116 runs and figures of 5-41 in the same match.
“That’s still one of my best memories, just because of how well I played on the day,” he said.
“There’s plenty of days where things don’t go right so to have a day out like that one is pretty special.”
The current Nambour president, who took over the role in 2020, actually had his best individual season in 2022-23, with 676 total runs, an average of 56.3 and a high score of 195.
Last month, Ledger reached his goal of 10,000 first grade career runs.
“It’s really weird to think about and it’s something I don’t think I’ll truly appreciate until I’m all done and looking back on my playing days,” he said.
“It’s certainly an achievement to be very proud of, we’ve had some lean years in terms of the team’s performances but I’ve always been proud to put my best foot forward and contribute as much as I can.
With Ledger’s current tally sitting on 10,384, he said he wasn’t putting an end date on his career just yet.
“I’m definitely closer to the end than I am to the start, that’s for sure,” Ledger said with a laugh.
“I actually contemplated giving it away at the end of last season but I finished quite well and thought I could still contribute to the team and help us push back into finals which we achieved through the T20’s.
“I’m satisfied with what I’ve been able to achieve but there’s plenty of people that still make me want to turn up to cricket and have a crack and I think that’s why I’m still enjoying it as much as ever.”
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