Just too bloody good. The Australian women’s cricket team are seemingly unstoppable, once again basking in the glory of their success.
In case you have been living under a rock, they have just been crowned the champions of the recent ICC Women’s T20 World Cup with a 19-run win over hosts South Africa – for the sixth time.
Since their first T20 triumph in 2010, they’ve also added the 2013 and 2022 ODI World Cups to their bulging trophy cabinet in a golden era of domination. And the previous generations were also strong with 50-over World Cup wins in 1978, 1982, 1988, 1997 and 2005.
The Aussie women have won more World Cups than all other teams combined. Let that sink in for a moment.
They also won the first-ever T20 gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, so they seem to have a firm grasp on this winning bizzo.
It’s hard to believe that not even one player let alone the entire squad was overlooked as part of this year’s Laureus World Sports Award nominees.
Boasting a team of superstars, including captain Meg Lanning who is in a league of her own. She has led Australia to five tournament wins, making her the most decorated captain in the history of the sport, leapfrogging Ricky Ponting.
On the team’s success, Manning admitted “We want to continue to win as much as we can, we are certainly not bored of doing that.
“We know that it is very tough to do and that’s why World Cups are so difficult to win and why you have to enjoy them when you can.
Two-time Belinda Clark Medal winner Mooney had an includible World Cup campaign. She is regarded as one of the best batters in the world and is the leading run-scorer in WBBL history.
Then you have the born-to-be-an-athlete Ellyse Perry who has represented her country in not one, but two sports at a World Cup. Thankfully she chose cricket over soccer and has gone on to become the first player to reach a combined 1,000 runs as well as 100 wickets in T20Is. She made the highest score by an Australian woman in Test match cricket with an impressive 213 not out, and also produced the best bowling figures by an Australian in women’s ODIs with a phenomenal 7-22.
Tahlia McGrath is the world’s number 1 women’s T20I ranked batter, and of course, we have bowling superstar, Player of the Tournament at the recent World Cup, and highest-paid Aussie woman to be picked to play in the Indian Premier League, Ash Gardner.
Throw in names like Alyssa Healy, Darcie Brown, and Grace Harris and the talent in this team seems to be endless.
Currently the number one ICC-ranked team in both white ball formats – this team will undeniably go down as one of the best sporting teams in history.
But when you become one of the greatest, you inevitably get compared to the other greats.
So, how do the Aussie women’s cricket team stack up against other national sporting teams with unrivalled dominance from years gone by?
The All Blacks
The best ever national rugby union team, possibly the best team from any sport around the world.
Holding the number 1 spot for 80 per cent of the time since world rankings were first introduced, as well as having a winning percentage of over 90, even a non-rugby union fan knows the supremacy of the New Zealand rugby team.
The Bledisloe Cup has been in their possession a phenomenal 17 times, they have won 10 of 16 Tri-Nations tournaments as well as six of seven Rugby Championships.
Pure class, complete domination.
(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Women’s United States National Football Team
The current FIFA Women’s World Cup champions are also the most successful in women’s football history, holding the record with four World Cup titles from 1991, 1999, 2015 and 2019.
They will be determined to keep their domination in check during the upcoming World Cup in Australia later this year.
West Indies Cricket
While the younger generation who just watched their recent tour of Australia may find this hard to believe, the Windies were once untouchable.
Between 1980-1995, and boasting names like Viv Richards, Curtly Ambrose, Joel Garner, Courtney Walsh, and Brian Lara, they were the most feared cricketing nation that went unbeaten in every series during those 15 years.
(Photo by Hamish Blair/Getty Images)
Brazil Men’s National Football Team
The most successful team in football history.
Football is their religion, their green and gold jerseys are known the globe over, and they are the most successful FIFA World Cup Team of all time.
Their record of five titles from 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002 still stands, and they remain the number one ranked team in the world.
The Hockeyroos
The women’s hockey side have claimed three Olympic Gold medals including back-to-back wins at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games. They have also won five consecutive Champions Trophy titles as well as two World Cup titles and four Commonwealth Games gold medals.
(Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images)
United States Men’s Olympic Basketball Team
A monster 143 wins with just six losses. Absolutely incredible.
The USA are the current four-time defending Olympic champions. Since basketball became an Olympic sport in 1936, these guys have won 16 out of a possible 19 gold medals, finishing with silver and two bronze on the other three occasions which were considered failures.
Their greatest-ever side, the Dream Team, which obliterated all before them at the 1992 Olympics, was powered by three of the best players to ever grace a court in Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird with fellow Hall of Famers Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Scottie Pippen and John Stockton putting on a show that’s never been seen before or since.
Soviet Union’s Men’s Ice Hockey Team
Close to untouchable from the 1950s to the early 1990s, winning 25 European Championships, 22 World Championships, and 7 Olympic Gold Medals.
But the hockey powerhouse will also be remembered for a historic loss at the 1980 Olympics, where the outright favourites were famously knocked out of gold medal contention, losing 4-3 to the United States. This match became known as ‘The Miracle on Ice.’
Which other national sporting teams would you add to the list?
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