Well, the high turnout certainly wasn't due to clement weather – it was a freezing night. So it must be attributed to the presence of the very mild-mannered and unassuming Mr Graham Onions himself.
The evening took a slightly unusual format, with the opening session conducted interview style prior to the open-floor Q&A after the interval. Rather than report verbatim, I'll try to summarise the information we gathered from our guest.
As a lad of about thirteen, Graham lived near a cricket ground and would often come home from school, don his whites and walk there. He started out as a batsman, but as he grew taller and became more athletic turned more to bowling. He played several sports in his teens, so wasn't part of any academy or other formal set up, and was about to go to university when he was spotted by Durham coach Geoff Cook and instead decided to opt for professional cricket.
Graham made his Second XI debut, aged 18, and soon realised that he had to improve his game. He'd the drive to do this but still wanted to enjoy himself. Thanks to Geoff Cook he wasn't over coached – to his benefit, he believes – and it took him some three or four years to understand that his true talents lay in bowling fast.
Graham made his First XI debut in 2003 and after two seasons was averaging 34 with the ball. He always took wickets but never really knew where the ball was going to land. He still wanted to bowl fast because that changes games, so he worked hard one winter hitting length repeatedly.
Over the next two seasons his average came down to 26, and in 2008 and 2009 – powered by a fearsome pace trio of Onions, Plunkett and Harmison – Durham won back-to-back Championships. A contemporary photo of that close-knit side of local lads reminded him of his youthful black curls. Perhaps no surprise that singer Lily Allen found him sexy!
In May 2009, after a televised 7-fer against Somerset, the phone rang. England selector Geoff Miller was on the line. Thinking it a prank, Graham ended the call but fortunately Mr Miller persisted. Graham was picked to replace Durham team-mate Steve Harmison against the Windies at Lords and responded with a first-innings 5/38.
Later that summer, against the Aussies at Edgbaston, he took the new ball ahead of Broad and Anderson – and took two wickets in two balls. He enjoyed being put under that kind of pressure. Michael Clarke came in to face the hat-trick delivery and Graham decided to bounce him. The ball was perfect – but no joy.
Fellow paceman Jason Gillespie is famously eager to discuss his record-breaking 201* – more perhaps than his 259 Test wickets – but Graham was less effusive about his own batting triumphs.
As last man in, and facing Dale Steyn in his pomp, he twice played match-saving innings in Tests in South Africa, but felt that if his batting was under discussion it meant that his bowling was probably struggling!
Unsurprisingly, Graham is a mate of Durham and England's Ben Stokes. He attributes some of the team's recent success to the atmosphere Ben helps to create, which allows players to be themselves. Although some structure is necessary, individuality can flourish.
Let's hope this continues and keeps generating results as it may help prolong interest in Test cricket. Stokes and McCullum aim to give freedom without allowing recklessness. The bowling mentality is that 'every ball can be a wicket-taker' rather than 'bowl three maidens and build pressure'.
This is quite a contrast to the England team he joined in 2009, as Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower both liked meetings and plans. Now there are no meetings and few rules.
In his own progress from county to international level, Graham noticed not just better players but also better pitches, and quickly worked out that he needed to maintain his skills for longer periods of time – bowling 50 overs in a Test on occasion.
To our chairman's standard query, 'which batsman did you fear most?', Graham cited two Aussies: Darren Lehmann and Michael Hussey.
In Hussey's case, it wasn't so much fear but the certain knowledge that any bad ball would go for four and if he reached twenty then a century was nailed on.
As Lancashire's bowling coach, Graham aims to find a balance between allowing youngsters to develop naturally while ensuring they bowl with a legal action. Injury forced his retirement, and coaching is the next best thing. It can't return him to the dressing-room and its unique environment, but he enjoys his new career and considers himself lucky to have this opportunity.
Coaching across all levels and formats is certainly a complex job as players all have different needs. While the likes of a Jimmy Anderson may only require a chat, a youngster will need more active management balancing drills and playing with rest and recuperation.
Stress fractures seem to be in fashion but this is deceptive. Without modern scanners, many past players perhaps suffered from undiagnosed stress fractures. This technology also identifies problems at an early stage and, given time to heal, players can come back stronger than before.
But modern cricketers play a lot, sometimes come back too soon – and the travel is a killer too.
Graham attributes Jimmy Anderson's longevity to several factors: his skill and determination but also his time in the gym, change of diet and avoidance of injury. He plays a limited number of matches but does warm up in county cricket at the start of a season.
As for heroes, one is Darren Gough, who handed him his England cap. Dale Steyn is up there too for his passion and determination to be the best but also for his enjoyment of the game.
Why did Graham move to Lancashire in 2018?
Unable to agree terms with Durham, and then with Kent, Lancs came calling with an excellent offer. They're a good club, going in the right direction, with excellent coaches in Glen Chapple and Karl Krikken.
Graham had two good years there as a player, taking lots of wickets and experiencing relegation and promotion in short order. Then Covid struck and his back broke down, leading to a specialist calling time on his playing career.
Returning to coaching, Graham worries that cricket is losing youngsters to gaming and other sports. Playing as he did after school is not common these days.
Players develop at different ages and good coaching deals with this. There is value too in youngsters playing against older cricketers – that's how a lot of learning happens. Someone scoring runs or taking wickets against good opposition gets noticed and learns quickly.
Overall, Graham concluded that his career highlight is having his name on the honours board at Lords, but he always remembers that club cricket was vital to his subsequent career.
Following all this talk, we learned that one of our members, nicknamed 'Onions', has a special link with his namesake. Some years ago individual caricatures of the England team were drawn and auctioned and he has Graham's!
Jacob Mathew thanked Graham for a superb evening, full of insight and humour.
It certainly encouraged deep digging for the raffle, which raised £155 – many thanks to all who purchased a ticket.
And, following Graham's visit, we can all now safely say we know our Onions . . .