Brendan Nash was born in Attadale, Western Australia. He lived in Perth, Cairns and Brisbane and studied at Nudgee College in 1993–94. Brendan Nash qualified to play for Jamaica through his father, Paul, a Jamaican Olympic swimmer.

Australia

Nash played grade cricket in Brisbane, and was leading run scorer in the 1999–2000 Brisbane XXXX competition. Before breaking into the senior side, Nash represented Queensland at under-19 level as well as playing for the Queensland Colts and Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS). On one occasion, Nash was pressed into service as a makeshift wicket-keeper for QAS when the first choice keeper was injured with a suspected broken thumb. Nash made his debut for the Queensland Bulls in 2001 when he came into the side as cover for injured batsman Martin Love. He scored his maiden first-class century in 2002 when he batted at number four and scored 157 as Queensland defeated the Southern Redbacks at the Adelaide Oval. Nash was promoted to open for Queensland and cemented his place there. In the 2001/02 Pura Cup final, Nash scored 96 against the Tasmanian Tigers as Queensland won the cup. He achieved a cult following with a "Brendan Nash Fan Club" founded among university students in Brisbane.

At the start of the 2002–03 season, Nash scored 176 and 81 not out against the New South Wales Blues. However, his form slipped away and he did not reach 40 in his next 20 innings. He struggled to hold down a place in the Queensland second XI. He was denied a contract with the Queensland Bulls for the 2004–05 season as a result of his poor run of form.

West Indies

After not being given a contract with the Queensland Bulls for the 2007–08 season, Nash decided to try to restart his career by moving to the West Indies. Speaking of his decision, he said "I was obviously very disappointed to miss out on a contract, but I pretty much got told it would be hard for me to work my way back in again and I felt I still have something to offer". In October 2007, Nash was named in the Jamaican squad. Nash played a key role in Jamaica winning the KFC Cup. In the final, he scored 117 as his team beat Trinidad and Tobago by nine wickets. Nash finished the season with 422 first-class runs at 46.88 to his name from the domestic competition and was third in the batting averages. There was surprise in some quarters when Nash was not selected for the Test series against Australia in 2008.

During the semi-final of the 2010/11 Regional Four Day Competition, Nash scored his highest first-class score. The innings of 207 runs came from 349 balls, and bettered his previous best of 176 runs. Though the semi-final against Trinidad and Tobago ended in a draw, Jamaica faced Combined Campuses and Colleges in the final. Nash was unable to bat for Jamaica due to injury, but the side went on to win the match by eight wickets.

England