Tait's delivery action is a sling style that is reminiscent of former Australian fast bowler Jeff Thomson's action. Dubbed "The Wild Thing", Tait is considered one of the fastest bowlers in the world and regularly delivers the ball at speeds up to 155 km/h, and occasionally faster. At T20 international on 5 February 2010 against Pakistan Tait bowled a ball measured at 160.7 km/h, the fastest ball ever recorded in Australia. His fastest ball was against England at Lords at 161.1kph (100.1 mph) in 2010, which is equal second fastest of all time behind Brett Lee and Shoaib Akhtar and fastest amongst active bowlers as of 3 January 2015. Despite his speed, Tait has often been described as "erratic" and is capable of bowling many extras, though his unpredictability can be a positive factor in dismissing batsmen and his strike rate confirms this. Tait has also been criticised as being "expensive."

After a Twenty20 match against New Zealand on 11 December 2007, in which Tait troubled the batsmen and took 2/22, New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori and coach Jo