Australian batsman Neil Harvey cannot be alone in expressing his surprise that Muttiah Muralitharan has been named the top Test bowler of all time by Wisden.

The cricket bible created controversy a year ago when it claimed that not a single innings from Sachin Tendulkar featured in the best 100 Test knocks of all time.

And it used the same statistical model to place the Sri Lanka spinner top of the tree.

"Murali is very good at his craft and I always enjoy watching him play but I'd argue with him being the best of all time," Harvey told BBC Sport Online.

Ray Lindwall was the best fast bowler I've ever seen Neil Harvey

There could be little argument of course about the top batsman, Harvey's former team-mate in the 1948 Invincibles side, Don Bradman.

And Bradman, says Harvey, rated Australian leg-spinner Bill O'Reilly as the best bowler he ever faced.

"That's good enough for me," says the 74-year-old left-hander.

"Jim Laker and Tony Lock were also fine bowlers when conditions were in their favour."

Weighting in the table was given to players who did not receive quality support from their team-mates, and top spots for Muralitharan and Richard Hadlee are testament to that.

Murali has taken 45% of Sri Lanka's wickets during his career, while Graham Gooch once described Hadlee's New Zealand side as "World XI at one end and Ilford 2nd XI at the other."

Harvey admires Murali's craft

The Sri Lanka star has 437 Test wickets - third in the all-time list behind Courtney Walsh's 519 and Shane Warne's 491.

But because of the amount he bowls, Murali's strike rate of 59.3 is only marginally better than that of Warne and inferior to all of the pace bowlers in Wisden's top ten.

"From my time Alec Bedser [22nd] was as good as anyone I've played against and there were also people like Fred Trueman [16th]," Harvey says of the faster men.

"I'd have to say Ray Lindwall was the best fast bowler I've ever seen though."

Wisden does not agree - the Australian speedster is 45th, two spots behind Merv Hughes.

Below Bradman in the batting rankings, there is no room for George Headley, who single-handedly kept the West Indies side together through their infant years.

Wally Hammond, regarded as England's finest-ever batsman languishes at number 20, with South African legend Graeme Pollock only one spot ahead of him

Meanwhile Allan Border, whose 11174 Test runs are the most ever, is fifth in the ranking.

"That's statistics for you," says Harvey.