The Untouchables ... voted as Australia's most dominant sporting side in our poll. Source: Brett Costello / News Limited
Steve Waugh's record-breaking Test cricket team has been voted as Australia's most dominant sporting team or player according to a foxsports.com.au poll.
We posed the question 'what is Australia's best period of sporting dominance?' following Casey Stoner's incredible sixth consecutive win at the Australian MotoGP at Phillip Island.
Waugh's Untouchables, who won 16 straight Test matches from 1999 to 2001, just shaded Mal Meninga's dominant Maroons side at the top of the list by the slim margin of 10 votes.
Squash queen Heather McKay was a surprise selection in position three, her achievement of losing just two matches in a 19-year career clearly recognised by voters.
Stoner's efforts at Phillip Island were enough to earn him fourth spot on the list, while legendary mare Black Caviar and her 22 consecutive wins rounded out the top five.
Former New Zealand all-rounder, and now Fox Sports expert, Chris Cairns experienced first-hand the Aussies' dominance, beaten by the side three times in 2000 during their 16-Test streak.
Cairns was the Kiwis' standout performer in those games, plundering 341 runs, including a century, at an average of 56.8 while also taking 10 wickets.
The big-hitting all-rounder described facing Waugh's Untouchables as "daunting" and said failing to get a win against them was one of his biggest disappointments.
"It was pretty daunting to be honest in every facet of the game," Cairns told foxsports.com.au
"It was challenging in every session, because in every department they had a quality player. When you went through that line-up there wasn't too many chinks in the armour.
"We played them a few times across 1999 and 2000 and we were actually in the game a couple of times.
"We had them four or five down for 60 in Hamilton on quite a spicy deck. Then all of a sudden Gilly got 90 - just sort of pummelled it - and then they rolled you again second innings and ended up coming away with the victory."
Cairns said it was the relentlessness of Waugh's Australia side that made them so hard to beat. No matter how far in front you were at any point in the game, it never felt like you had the foot on the throat.
"They had so many areas that they could re-enter a match," Cairns said.
"You may get them three or four down and then Steve Waugh and Adam Gilchrist would have a partnership.
"Or they'd put on a huge opening partnership and create the platform for a big score. If you managed to get them five-odd down Warnie and Gilly would chip in. That's just on the batting front.
"Then they had a bowling attack - McGrath, Gillespie, Lee, Warne - that had all the bases covered.
"Warne would be a containing bowler in the first innings and McGrath would play that role in the second innings so Warne would do his thing. Generally at the start of the session you just didn't go anywhere, because you were up against Warne and McGrath and both were impossible to get away."
In fact not only does Cairns think the Untouchables were deserving of the gong for most dominant Aussie outfit, he believes they would start favourites in a theoretical match against any of the best sides in cricket history.
Comparing them to the great West Indies side of the 80s, Cairns said the Untouchables would have the edge, mainly through their X-factor players Warne and Gilchrist.
"I feel that the Warne factor and the Gilchrist factor would tip it in the favour of the Australians," Cairns said. "They were so dynamic and they were unique."
"If you compared elements - there's superb fast bowlers on both sides, wonderful batters on both sides, Gilchrist v Dujon - absolutely no contest, Gilchrist was far better, and then obviously the spin contest.
"If you throw those elements in, I think over the course of a Test you can deal with pace - that Aussie side was pretty adept at that and then if you throw in the Gilchrist factor - just that ability to tip the match and just ripping the game apart - he was a special, special player."
This poll was closed on Tue Oct 30 09:10:00 EST 2012
What is Australia's best period of sporting dominance?
The side, featuring Immortals Johnny Raper and Reg Gasnier, won an unprecedented 11 rugby league premierships between 1956 and 1966 and went through the 1959 season unbeaten. 7.9% (151 votes)
Golfer Greg Norman was ranked World No.1 for a total of 331 weeks during his illustrious career, a record until a certain Tiger Woods came along. 3.29% (63 votes)
Steve Waugh's Australia Test cricket side created history by winning 16 consecutive Tests from 1999 until 2001. That golden period also included an ODI World Cup win in 1999. 19.4% (371 votes)
Featuring the likes of Michael Voss, Jason Akermanis and Simon Black, Brisbane Lions performed a rare treble of AFL premierships, lifting the trophy in 2001,2002 and 2003. 6.59% (126 votes)
The great mare has raced 22 times for 22 wins, the majority unchallenged. Her victory at the Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Ascot sealed her place among the sport's greats. 10.2% (195 votes)
In the fierce cauldron of State of Origin football, Queensland have blown NSW apart, winning seven straight series from 2006 to 2012. The bad news for Blues fans is that their rivals will gun for number eight and beyond in 2013. 18.88% (361 votes)
Squash player Heather McKay tasted defeat only twice in a career spanning 19 years. The Queanbeyan product took out the British Open, squash's most prestigious title, 16 times on the trot. 14.23% (272 votes)
A two-time MotoGP champion, Casey Stoner will forever be remembered in his sport for total domination of the Australian grand prix. For six straight years no one could touch Stoner at the Phillip Island circuit. 12.24% (234 votes)
Swimmer Matthew Cowdrey is the most successful Australian Paralympian of all time, with 13 gold medals to his name across three games. 4.39% (84 votes)
Have we left anyone out? Tell us by leaving a comment below. 2.88% (55 votes)
Total votes: 1912
