Apologies from our chairman and a new opportunity to write down questions for the speaker were the prelude to a helter-skelter evening.
Paul Farbrace gave no sign of needing anything as simple as breath as he took us on an engaging and entertaining rattle through his cricket life and memories.
With a mother who made cricket teas, and a father and two older brothers who played, Paul usually started as the 'extra' for an opposition short of a man or two.
He signed for Kent in 1986 after a year as a would-be goalkeeper at Coventry City, which ended when Steve Ogrizovic told him that he lacked two attributes for this role: height and ability!
He played as understudy to keeper Steve Marsh and was lucky enough play with one of his heroes, Derek Underwood, in the great man’s last game.
Moving next to Middlesex, he was part of their Championship-winning team but his true calling has proved to be coaching.
Kent's Colin Page was an example of an 'old school coach' with a temper that showed.
After one loss, however, he remained unusually calm. Only the following day did he vent his ire, moving from one player to the next until at last he reached Paul: 'I know nothing about keeping, Ugly [Paul's rather indelicate nickname], so tell me if you've a bad game and I’ll rollick you then.'
Not an approach that Paul would recommend. You can't always be a nice guy and must be ready to share some hard truths, but you must get to know your players, work with their personality, choose the right words and deliver them at the right time.
Alistair Cook, for example, hates to be corrected during a net session but will listen afterwards, whereas Joe Root will pay attention mid-net. Reminding Joe to centre his head by keeping his weight on his heels (advice from Anthony McGrath) worked well on one such occasion.
Elite players can generally work things out for themselves but may need a prompt or a reminder of how good they are.
The outwardly confident Stuart Broad or the more diffident Ian Bell both required a little TLC (tender loving coaching) now and again.
And sometimes you don't even need to see the player in action. Struggling in the IPL five or six years ago, Jos Buttler phoned Paul for advice.
Question and answer followed: PF: 'What would your mother say?' JB: 'Are you enjoying yourself? And I'm not.' PF: 'What do you enjoy most about cricket?' JB: 'Hitting the ball.' (No surprise there!) PF: 'Forget about the scoreboard, then. Just watch the ball and hit it.' Case solved.
Moving to Sri Lanka as assistant national coach was mind-opening in unexpected ways.
Neither Paul nor lead coach Trevor Bayliss had realised how much politics would affect selection, and Paul was sacked three times in two years – without ever actually losing his job.
The Minister of Sport officially had the final say, and the President might also get involved.
Bayliss and Farbrace dropped two senior players from their first squad only to see them reinstated by the politicians.
Then they were asked to give a farewell Test appearance to Chaminda Vaas, who hadn't played for a year.
Vaas had decided to stand as an MP, but for the opposition unless . . .
The President wanted the great bowler on the government benches, so agreement was reached that he would play in the first test only.
Vaas was to tell the pre-match press conference that he would be retiring after this game.
Instead he went off-script and said he hoped to perform well enough to keep his place throughout the series.
Turning to the coach-captain relationship, Paul looked at the current test team of Brendan McCullum and Ben Stokes.
They're adopting Eoin Morgan's approach as leader, which is to model a playing method for the team to see and follow.
While it may appear reckless, Stokes is showing everyone that he wants positive play with bat and ball.
Both men have similar temperaments in this regard so Paul expects the relationship to work well.
Eoin Morgan and Trevor Bayliss were also an effective partnership but in a different way.
Morgan is a talker while Bayliss is more reticent, so their strengths complement each other.
Alistair Cook and Bayliss, however, are both naturally quiet, leaving something of a visible and audible leadership gap.
Paul paused for breath at this point and helped to draw the raffle before questions began.
Q. Please can you tell us about Lasith Malinga?
A. He was the smartest of cricketers, who learned to bowl by skipping a tapeball on water hence his unusual technique. Each season was going to be his last but he just got better and better.
To refine his yorker, he would bowl for hours at a pair of trainers (representing the batsman’s feet). In the 2014 T20 World Cup final against India, his four overs were all wide yorkers, helping Sri Lanka to their 6-wicket win.
Q. What about the Nasser Hussain/Duncan Fletcher relationship? Were they a poor combo or were the players not up to scratch?
A. Both men wanted to be 'the leader', which made for a poor dynamic that was perhaps reinforced by Fletcher’s lack of interest in any players other than the test team.
Q. What about your only 1st-class wicket?
A. With a guffaw, Paul told story.
He was bowling from the pavilion end at Lord’s when the batsman played forward, got a thick edge and was caught at square leg. So Graham Gooch walked!
Q. Never one to dwell on statistics, Maggie offered a gentle prompt about his top score of 75.
A. Paul made it – and against YCCC – while batting with his hero Derek Underwood.
But he reminded us, he did top this with 79 against Cambridge university.
Q. What about the best way to coach youngsters – teach technique or encourage enjoyment?
A. Find out about each player as a person and discover what they want from coaching.
Technique can be taught through playing. Players often learn from each other and the role of the coaches is to facilitate this.
Q. How do players react when they are dropped from a team (citing that morning's England win in the World T20 semi-final)?
A. This is naturally a big blow and Paul reminded us of Stuart Broad’s comments on this issue.
Q. And what about the ECB High Performance Review. Should England aim to be Number 1 in all formats and is cutting red ball cricket a compromise too far?
A. As long as most white ball and franchise cricket is played during the English winter, this might be OK.
But if these competitions extend into the summer, red ball cricket is in trouble. Players are just starting to reject their national side in order to compete in franchises.
Q. What about the T10 format – is this expanding or likely to do so?
A. Paul is heading to coach in the Abu Dhabi T10 in December and thinks this format should be included in the Olympics as it's very short and sharp.
Q. What about slow bowlers? Has Paul come across any names to watch?
A. England have three spin bowlers in T20 cricket but poor pitches are hindering the development of slow bowling in the red ball game.
The best bowler Paul kept to was Derek Underwood, although he also name-checked former Middlesex teammates Phil Tufnell and John Embury.
Q. What about communicating with players during match analysis, team meetings and play?
A. Paul learned most about this when he was sacked by Kent.
He'd 'lost the dressing room' because he took what happened on the field personally, and badly, and let players know it.
He spent three months out of the game and realised that he needed to work on this aspect of his passion for cricket.
He started to write down the phrases he used when things went badly and to re-read them privately rather than voice them unhelpfully in public.
Applying to YCCC for a post as assistant coach, he faced a four-strong interview panel at 8am one Monday morning.
'How do expect to help the Yorkshire team when your own game was less than impressive?' asked one.
'I won't be here to bat or bowl but to coach,' Paul replied.
He thought this satisfied his interrogator: one Mr G. Boycott.
Q. A final flurry of quick questions
A. Chris Silverwood's role as sole England selector involved too much responsibility when combined with his other roles; a panel discussion (as preferred by Rob Key) is better as it allows debate.
But the captain should always have the final say.
A. Paul’s favourite ground is Canterbury and his least liked is Grace Road. It has tiny changing rooms – and players always prefer not to have to use the balcony.
A. The key difference between franchise and county cricket is that a franchise team must be quickly developed from a group of experienced players, while county cricket allows development of individuals and styles of play.
County cricket should be based on a tripod of developing players as far as they can go, readying potential county players, and winning trophies.
The November raffle raised £126, so many thanks to all who contributed.