ROSEAU, Dominica (CMC) – Former Combined Islands cricketer and government minister, Kaleb Laurent, died at the Princess Margaret General Hospital yesterday. He was 65 years old. Laurent, who played for Dominica, Windward Islands and the Combined Islands in the regional Shell Shield competition, was described by his colleague, Clem John, “as one of the best off-spinners never to play Test cricket for the West Indies”.
“He was born in the wrong place at the wrong time,” John said on state-owned Dominica Broadcasting Service (DBS) radio.
Laurent, a former school principal, was also a minister in the government of the late Prime Minister Dame Eugenia Charles between 1980 and ’85.
His first class cricket career spanned two periods, 1964-65 and 1973-74, during which time he played 16 matches, taking 48 wickets at an average of 26.14 with his right-arm off-breaks. He scored 176 runs.