Who are the Ballarat region's top 25 greatest bowlers this century?

The GOAT (greatest of all time) has been crowned, with Ray Laycock named skipper of the Ballarat bowls team of the quarter century. Picture by Lachlan Bence

Ballarat has been blessed with a number of top bowlers across the first 25 seasons of this century, but who are the greatest 25 we've seen?

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From state and Commonwealth Games representatives to some of the rising stars of the game, the Ballarat region has seen hundreds of top level players who have all made their mark on the game

A panel of bowls luminaries had plenty to discuss when they sat down to go through the best players Ballarat has seen in that time, and while we're told there were no arguments, there were some fierce debates as the panel worked through the best of the best.

Selection committee co-ordinator Paul Ryan said there were plenty of players that can justifiably feel aggrieved to have missed the list, such was the quality of the selection.

"It really was a great exercise to go through," he said. "We did an awful lot of homework, working out who had been champion of champion, who had represented the state, who had gone onto Commonwealth Games.

"We had a lot of great discussions about the players and there were plenty that were very unlucky to miss out."

The selection panel also named its All-Star rinks with the top four players being named.

Joy Adams has been named skipper of the greatest ever women's team of the Ballarat bowls this century.

Creswick legend Ray Laycock has been named skipper of the men's rink, alongside Brett Mahoney (Webbcona) as lead, Jarrod Fleming (Ballarat) as second, and Matt Flapper (Central Wendouree) as third.

In the women's top 25, Central Wendouree's Joy Adams was named as skipper, with Lyn Maple also from Centrral Wendouree as lead, Jenny Harman of City Oval as second and Marie Russell of Avenue as third.