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Eleven Bats

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Eleven Bats

By: Anthony Moffitt
Narrated by: Ric Herbert
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About this listen

Anthony 'Harry' Moffitt spent more than 20 years in the SAS. His decades of service and his multiple tours in East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan made him one of the regiment's most experienced and recognised figures.

Alongside the SAS, Harry's other lifetime love is cricket. An improvised game of cricket was often the circuit-breaker Harry and his team needed after the tension of operations. He began a tradition of organising matches wherever he was sent, whether it was in the mountains of East Timor with a fugitive rebel leader, or on the dusty streets of Baghdad, or in exposed Forward Operating Bases in the hills of Afghanistan. Soldiers, locals and even visiting politicians played in these spontaneous yet often bridge-building games.

As part of the tradition, Harry also started to take a cricket bat with him on operational tours, 11 of them in total. They'd often go outside the wire with him and end up signed by those he met or fought alongside. These 11 bats form the basis for Harry's extraordinary memoir.

It's a story about combat and what it takes to serve in one of the world's most elite formations. It's a story about the toll that war takes on soldiers and their loved ones. And it's a story about the healing power of cricket and how a game can break down borders in even the most desperate of circumstances.

©2020 Anthony Moffitt (P)2020 W F Howes
Cricket Military & War Sports Heartfelt Inspiring Thought-Provoking Solider

What listeners say about Eleven Bats

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Could not stop listening

Amazing story - great lessons and insight to a truely remarkable life - thank you & well done

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Well worth the read, as real as you can get

I am not a cricket fan, nor ex regiment. I played lots of backyard growing up in Perth in the 80s. But I did deploy at the same time to Afghanistan as Harry, and his story unexpectedly helped me piece together an event which has had a huge impact on my life, but I had problems recalling in any detail since it happened in 2005.
A true warrior scholar, the bats are his way of attaching meaning to experiences that cannot be understood because language fails. And like many other soldiers, found that art and other things that transcend culture and time, like sport and totems, do a much better job. In an age of memoirs that give the gory details to satisfy the consumer, I highly recommend that anyone wanting to understand war and the ethical problems that soldiers face, while getting a few laughs along the way (also a part of war, and a very important one), well done on a great career, an excellent read, and a legacy.

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Stoicism & Resilience

An enthralling read bring two vastly different elements being high end counter insurgency warfare and the simple game of cricket

Well worth a read

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Eleven Bats

This is a nice flowing recount of life, family, physical and psychological requirements to pass selection and then to remain relevant and able to provide service in an elite special operations unit.
It goes a long way intertwined with the story of the eleven bats that provide memories for recount and the stories each of them has which cricket provides a grounding and release in stressful and demands of the job.

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great story, greater guy

I was fortunate enough to be on a course for my work, where 'Harry' presented for us. I was captivated by the presentation and found myself hanging on each word.
after a little self plug at the end about the book, I promptly purchased the audiobook. I was not disappointed. whilst not being much of cricketer, I found I couldn't put this book down, in a manner of speaking.
I would recommend this book to everyone, despite their walks of life.

Thank you for service both past and present 'Harry' and for sharing your story.

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Excellent story

Harry’s story is thought provoking and needs to be heard by everyone who may have an opinion on Australia’s participation in the war against terror.
These men and women and their families have paid a high price.
The narration of the story is brilliant.
Well done.

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what and awesome listen

great listen to learn what demands of Australias elite soldiers what was the services requires and demands of them. really eye opening

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Humble, Top Bloke.

Harry has a real way to normalise and downplay something so scary and real. Very enjoyable.

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Unique storyline

Really engaging and interesting story, good for ex-service people to relate to or interested folks to get an understanding of deployment life.

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Honest and insightful

Really enjoyed the author’s honesty and self reflection about his broader life experiences in this book. Well done, Harry.

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