The Sociogenesis of Cricket

The first documented cricket information was approximately somewhere around 1550 in Guildford, Surrey.  Without actual documentation it is assumed that cricket started somewhere in northern England sometime after the Dark Ages.  From the research I couldn't find one specific person or group of people responsible for the start of cricket.  However, I did find a couple cricket clubs that were supposed to be at least partly responsible; they were The Hambledon Club and the Merlebone Cricket Club (MCC) (Brittanica).  Earliest records of cricket have exclusively men playing the game and specifically aristocrats and business men.  Cricket diffused to North America through the English colonies in the 17th century.  Cricket later diffused to West Indies, Austrailia, New Zealand, and South Africa then followed by the rest of the world by the beginning of the 19th century.  The first recorded rules came from The Duke of Richmond and Alan Brodick in 1728 were known as the Articles of Agreement.  In 1774 the rules were amended things like the maximum bat width, middle stump, and giving authority of in-game decisions to the two 'umpires'.  The amendments were done by the Star and Garter Club which were made up of the same men who started the MCC.  The original equipment was a bat that was usually a sturdy curved tree branch that resembled modern day hockey sticks.  The ball that was used was usually a roundish rock that wasn't too heavy to break the branch.  The equipment slowly evolved to more handcrafted elegant bats and balls.

http://neweraofsports.blogspot.com/2013/06/history-of-cricket-starting-of-new-era.html

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GandM_Purist-Grace_match_cricket_balls.jpg

http://hockeygods.com/hockeys/15-Bandy

1844 First official international match: Canada v United States.

1853 First mention of a champion county: Nottinghamshire.

1873 WG Grace becomes the first player to record 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in a season.
First regulations restricting county qualifications, often regarded as the official start of the County Championship.

1900 Six-ball over becomes the norm, instead of five.

1910 Six runs given for any hit over the boundary, instead of only for a hit out of the ground.

1971 First one-day international: Australia v England at Melbourne.
1975 First World Cup: West Indies beat Australia in final at Lord's.
1976 First women's match at Lord's, England v Australia.

2005 The ICC introduces Powerplays and Supersubs in ODIs, and hosts the inaugural Superseries.

The sport now faces current issues of dealing with serious misconduct like Pakistan a few years ago being accused of ball tampering.  There are also some problems with getting an international league and regular season system that we see in so many other sports.  It also faces trouble with making sure that women's cricket is seen as just as important as men's on national levels as well as internationally.

History of Cricket

Cricket Encyclopedia

ESPN History of Cricket