Best bowlers ever, a very difficult and contentious subject

I looked at a list and although it's fairly comprehensive, I don't think the order is correct and there are faulty omissions.

It seems that allrounders like Gary Sobers, the 5 in 1 cricketer as Bradman called him, don't count, neither is Mike Proctor mentioned...probably his career was too short. 

I was a great fan of Allan Donald but his position is above Dennis Lillee and Curtly Ambrose...I think that's wrong.

No mention of Hugh Tayfield who is rated by many as the best off-spinner ever.

And Muralithian ahead of Warne. Warne was best bowler ever and should be on top of the list. 

Here is the controversial list to 50 :

 1 Muttiah Muralithian                                                            

2 Glen Mc Grath

3 Shane Warne

4 Wasim Akram

5 Richard Hadlee

6 Joel Garner

7 Allan Donald

8 Curtly Ambrose

9 Dennis Lillee

10 Malcolm Marshall

11 Sydney Barnes

12 Waqar Younis

13 Freddie Truman

14  Anil Kumbie

15 Jim Laker

16 Shaun Pollock

17 James Anderson

18 Dale Steyn

19 Courtney Walsh

20 Michael Holding

21 Imran Khan

22  Kapil Dev

23 Chaminda Vaas

24 Shoaib Akhtar

25 Saqlain Mushtaq

26 George Lohman

27 Andy Roberts

28 Bob Willis

29 Bret Lee

30 Derek Underwood

31 Stuart Broad

32 Brian Statham

33 Makhaya Ntini

34 Ian Botham

35 Craig Mc Dermott

36 Morne Morkel

37 Mitchell Johnson

38 Ravichandran Ashwin

39 Lance Gibbs

40 Jason Gillespie

41 Bishan Singh Bedi

42 Javagal  Srinath

43 Daniel Vettori

44 Zaheer Khan

45 Harbhajan Singh

46 Rangana Herati

47 Lasith Malinga

48 Vernon Philander

49 Abdul Quadir

50 Darren Gough

My all time best three pace bowlers are selected not on overall average but rather on spells of dominance, however short, during their career. Periods where nobody had an answer to them and where the top bats in the world were made to look like amateurs.

1 - Shane Bond

2 - Mitch Johnson

3 - Curtley Ambrose

Mushtaq at 25 is a joke. 

Guy is easily up there with Warne and Murli.

If Botham is on this list there where the hell are Kallis and Flintoff? Flintoff easily being the best of the three.

Dan Vettori...Nice guy but he's not near the top 100. JP Duminy was a better off-spinner.

Lee behind Vaas???

Where on earth is Paul Reiffel?

Mushtaq at 25 is a joke. 

Guy is easily up there with Warne and Murli.

If Botham is on this list there where the hell are Kallis and Flintoff? Flintoff easily being the best of the three.

Dan Vettori...Nice guy but he's not near the top 100. JP Duminy was a better off-spinner.

Lee behind Vaas???

Where on earth is Paul Reiffel?

Mushtaq at 25 is a joke. 

Guy is easily up there with Warne and Murli.

If Botham is on this list there where the hell are Kallis and Flintoff? Flintoff easily being the best of the three.

Dan Vettori...Nice guy but he's not near the top 100. JP Duminy was a better off-spinner.

Lee behind Vaas???

Where on earth is Paul Reiffel?

Mushtaq at 25 is a joke. 

Guy is easily up there with Warne and Murli.

If Botham is on this list there where the hell are Kallis and Flintoff? Flintoff easily being the best of the three.

Dan Vettori...Nice guy but he's not near the top 100. JP Duminy was a better off-spinner.

Lee behind Vaas???

Where on earth is Paul Reiffel?

Mushtaq at 25 is a joke. 

Guy is easily up there with Warne and Murli.

If Botham is on this list there where the hell are Kallis and Flintoff? Flintoff easily being the best of the three.

Dan Vettori...Nice guy but he's not near the top 100. JP Duminy was a better off-spinner.

Lee behind Vaas???

Where on earth is Paul Reiffel?

Yes, Plum I fully agree with the context you mean...it's very difficult generally but there are obvious omissions...

 George Lohman, never heard of him until I looked him up. He played cricket in great grandfathers day, more than 100 years ago. Jim Laker, Brian Statham and Freddie Truman...I only heard of from my late dad and were past legends that he spoke of and I also remember him telling of Frank Tyson (or Tison, not sure of the spelling).who supposed to be the fastest bowler of all time.

But it is not bad list, the order is wrong I believe but omissions that you highlighted are obvious. As I said you are going to cause contentions because like rugby we all different perceptions of playing ability often relates to the environment we are in and the privilege of actually seeing them in action.

Stats are are a mere guide and often don't reveal  the FULL picture.

True Seb.

When it comes to batters it's much easier to come up with a more accurate list.

Lol Saffex...And Warne is married to perhaps the most attractive woman of all time too. Lucky bastard.