It was one year ago today that former Test star Phillip Hughes died in a Sydney hospital two days after being struck by a bouncer during a Sheffield Shield match at the SCG.

Hughes’ death shocked a cricket-mad nation and had a particular impact on the thousands of young boys and girls who play the game each weekend. It also cast a terrible pall over the entire summer of cricket and raised serious questions about how the game should be played.

The world has gone on, but cricket is not quite the same as before his death.

And so it may be entirely appropriate that the anniversary of Phil Hughes’ death also marks the start of a bold new era for Test cricket.

For the first time, a Test match will be played under lights using a pink ball – and no one really knows how it will go.

Just as purists doubted the white ball would have much of an impact when day-night one-day matches started almost 40 years ago, there are plenty who now question the wisdom of tinkering with Test matches in this way.

But cricket’s hierarchy would be happy if day-night Tests prove half as successful as one-day cricket because there is no doubt the sport needs a new shot in the arm.

Adelaide is the only city to host a day-night Test this season, but it would not be a surprise to see the concept rolled out to Perth, Brisbane and even Sydney and Melbourne in coming years.

Day-night Tests offer the opportunity to build crowds both at the game and watching at home on television, making the sport a more attractive proposition for advertisers and pouring more money into Cricket Australia’s coffers to keep growing the sport.

Cricket has changed since Phil Hughes died a year ago and, as we’ll see this afternoon, it will keep changing – for better or worse – for years to come.