The cricket analogy is interesting.
You can argue that test cricket is poorly supported because the current generation seeks action and thrills rather than the subtle tactical game, and there's little the higher levels can do to change that. But general exposure to cricket is declining - fewer schools play it, and many pub sides find it hard to find players to commit to a season (unlike the UK Asian sides, which are flourishing), and one can argue that that's a wider cultural and demographic issue rather than the fault of the game's governing bodies.
Spectators at county level and below are thin on the ground and ageing, but the one growth area is 20:20 cricket, which has seen a phenomenal explosion of interest, both in the UK and India and has some seeing it as the future of the game and others as the nail in its coffin. What would 20:20 folk be like - or do we already have it in the form of the new, young artists on the concert circuit?
With cricket the selection of players is generally based on talent, given that even a village or pub team wants to win. Those with zero talent either self-select or end up, in desperate teams, as perpetual 12th man or scorer. And, as with music, those with real talent rise up through the system to the point where they're decried as being out of touch and in thrall to the sponsors and the cash! Hmm, maybe there's scope for a 12th man or scorer in folk clubs and sessions...