If you have considered the scrutiny at your workplace somewhat daunting this week spare a thought for Ashes skippers Ricky Ponting and Andrew Flintoff.
Never before in this country have two Test match captains been subjected to such critical gaze by men who once led and so laid themselves bare before a demanding public and voracious media.
This Ashes series has attracted a phenomenal level of interest and on last count yesterday 17 Test captains of summers past were at the Gabba and thoroughly investigating the leadership skills of Ponting and Flintoff.
The vast majority of this band, who together led in a colossal 440 Tests over the past 50 years, are employed by the television industry to use their expertise to dissect proceedings for audiences the world over.
And underpinning these judgments is, of course, an assessment of the character, capability and tactical and strategic acumen of the skippers Ponting and Flintoff.
It goes without saying that just at the moment the Gabba is not a place for the thin-skinned.
Of course these eminent commentators can polarise just as they did in more sprightly days when they were the sole focus of attention.
Indeed, one senses some of them are employed to do just that. Their word may not be gospel but it sparks debate and gossip and shapes public opinion.
So it is interesting to make a comparative study of the teams armed with pen and white-out before the microphones and marking the teams and their skippers out of 10.
As is the case in the middle, England's Sky Sports team is considerably younger with an average age of 44. Interestingly it is also marginally more experienced if such status is alone determined by the number of times each commentator was at the helm in his pomp. Of course win-loss ratios is another matter altogether and it would be quite ungracious to go there at the start of a series that has so captured the attention and imagination of everyone in the game and, indeed, far beyond.
With 54 Tests in charge of England, Michael Atherton is the sixth longest-serving skipper in Test history and he brings calm authority to the microphone.
Alongside him is pragmatic Nasser Hussain (45 Tests as skipper), silky David Gower (32), who has long been admired on and off the field in this country, and lovable rogue Ian Botham (12) who, of course, has some claims to Queensland citizenship.
Mark Taylor may be a relatively new kid on the Channel Nine block, but with 50 Tests as his country's captain he is the ninth-longest serving skipper in Test cricket. And with an imposing 26 victories to his credit, this gives him all the authority he needs when working alongside Ian Chappell (30 Tests as captain), Richie Benaud (28) and Bill Lawry (25).
This gives the home team a total of 133 Tests - 10 shy of the visitors - and an average age of 62. Of course, the ever conspicuous and resourceful Channel Nine publicity department would offer another figure but this would include the record of Tony Greig (14).
But while not questioning his impartiality, it must at least be noted that Greig led England and, as far as anyone can ascertain, identifies as a South African.
But by no means does this intense examination end with the personalities and propaganda of the commentary positions.
In his eyrie, match referee and former New Zealand captain Jeff Crowe (six Tests) did not miss a trick. More for his interest than for any International Cricket Council requirement, he made a mental note of the strengths and weaknesses of the skippers.
Moving about the ground from dressing-room to boardroom was Cricket Australia director Allan Border, who with 93 consecutive Tests as captain enjoys the distinction of being the game's longest serving leader.
Not quite as nimble but engaging as ever was Bill Brown, who at 94 is Australia's oldest Test cricketer. Much loved by the current Australian team members, he led Australia in its inaugural Test against New Zealand in 1946.
Down in the England dressing-room, Michael Vaughan (33) worked assiduously at strengthening his dicky knee while no doubt finding time to offer some words of support to Flintoff and his fellow and crestfallen pace bowlers.
Geoff Boycott (four Tests) was spotted entering the BBC radio studio, while Allan Lamb (three Tests) is doing some work for England's Sky News and, like most of the commentators, penning a column or two.
And to complete the galaxy of leaders, Adam Gilchrist (six) and Andrew Strauss (four) have had solid experience of the top job. Strauss was a contender for this tour but in the end the selectors reinvested in the versatile skills and inspirational qualities of Flintoff.
While Ponting has been the most successful of any of the aforementioned luminaries, he entered this series determined to make reparation for the shattering defeat of the Ashes last year.
True to form, he has made his point as only he can and, presumably, has been marked accordingly.
- MIKE COWARD