Bridgetown: England captain Michael Vaughan has given a boost to South Africa’s bid to stop Australia’s unbeaten run in the World Cup.

South African coach Mickey Arthur revealed on Saturday that Vaughan had given him valuable advice about conditions in St Lucia, where South Africa meet Australia in a semi-final showdown Wednesday.

England were based in St Lucia for their group matches but no South African team has played at the island’s Beausejour ground.

“I’ve actually chatted quite a lot with Michael Vaughan,” said Arthur.

“He came over and offered a lot of advice about St Lucia, which was something I didn’t expect. He told us about the wicket. There’s quite a prevailing wind helping swing bowlers when they bowl from one end of the ground. He told us how it played when they were there. It was very nice of him.”

Although the Beausejour ground has a reputation for being slow with low bounce, which would not suit South Africa’s fast bowlers, Arthur said he was encouraged by Vaughan’s comment about swing bowling.

“He said it was one of the best wickets, other than Barbados, that they have played on. It did a little early in the morning when it was damp and then it became really nice to bat on later,” said Arthur.