The 22-year-old had an eventful day at Wantage Road against the English county side taking two wickets and forcing opener Tim Roberts to retire with blood pouring from a gash above his left eyebrow.

Tait finished the contest with a wound of his own when Ben Phillips unleashed a booming drive which struck him on his knee causing him to collapse to the ground.

He left the field and is assured the bruising will not effect his chances of an international bow in the fourth Test at Trent Bridge starting Thursday.

"It was pretty painful for a while but it is not too bad now," said Tait who has been widely tipped to replace the misfiring Jason Gillespie in the Australian team which is locked at 1-1 against England in after three of the five Tests.

"There will probably be a couple of days of soreness but I should be alright. The boys were taking the micky out of me because it was nothing serious but there was a lot of pain for five minutes.

"Matthew Hayden kicked me on the back and told me to get up -- they are tough old blokes I suppose!"

Tait tempted Usman Afzaal into an ugly pull and knocked out David Sales' leg-stump to finish with two for 52.

"I felt pretty good, there was some decent pace but a couple more wickets would have been handy," said the South Australian who is vying with Michael Kasprowicz for the third seamer's place in the Test team.

"It would be everything for me to play for my country, just like it would be for any young cricketer. One thing I do know is that I am ready for that sort of cricket; if the opportunity comes up I am definitely there to stick my hand up and bowl well."

An ability to reverse swing the ball might be in Tait's favour, given the current trend for taking wickets in the Ashes, although those to have witnessed his short-lived spell at Durham last summer -- he was sent home after just two fruitless County Championship games in which he was plagued by no-balls and went at nearly 10-an-over -- might not consider him a valid threat.

However, within a week of being back in Adelaide the problem was fixed and he claimed 65 wickets in the Pura Cup upon his return to action, the second-best return in the history of Australia's first-class competition, to earn his place on this tour.