Born in a family of cricketers, Ed Nuttal's father Andrew Nuttal also played for Canterbury. A left arm paceman from Canterbury, Ed Nuttall hails from a strong cricketing background. His father, Andrew, played for Canterbury between 1977 and 1990 while his brother, Henry, has represented Canterbury at the Under-17 level. Ed Nuttall has captured 116 wickets in all three formats for the club.

He was a part of the New Zealand Under-19 team, which finished fourth in the Under-19 World Cup in 2012 in Australia.