The hashtag #63notout, referring to Hughes’s score when the accident occurred, was trending in Australia on Friday as fans remembered his legacy before cricket’s first day-night Test. Traditionalists still savour the sight of it but none can deny that with the advent of Twenty20s, the longest format of game faces a fight for survival.
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The Black Caps, needing a win to draw the three-Test series, opted to bat after winning the toss in the much-anticipated Test match featuring a pink ball for the first time. “As a result of the tragedy, Cricket Australia has boosted the medical presence at grounds and now requires all players to wear a helmet that meets stringent safety standards”.
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. “There’s always been that twilight area after tea where the lights are not quite flawless, but you just get on with it”. The ball has already been used in Australia’s domestic cricket and has been welcomed by captains and administrators. Obviously, the first two Tests were a bit disappointing in terms of crowds.
“But geez, does it really matter once you get under way?”
And as well as being the start of a new era for Test cricket, it is also the dawning of Australia’s post-Johnson period, with Mitchell Johnson’s retirement after the Perth Test altering the look of their attack.
“I think people are voting with their feet”, he told reporters on Thursday of the healthy ticket sales for the match.
And while the swinging ball accounted for David Warner (one) and Joe Burns (14), the former edging to slip and the latter into his stumps, Smith and Voges proved that a straight bat and a watchful eye could see off the danger.
“We will find out once the game is over, I guess, but at least we have got the opportunity to test it out and we’re relishing that opportunity”. TV audiences should also be higher with play continuing until 9:00pm local time.
Josh Hazlewood then earned the honour of the first wicket, trapping Guptill lbw for one, but Australia made their move in the second session when they claimed three wickets in the space of 11 balls. This means they are again playing five bowlers, which may seem normal in a standard Adelaide Test, but the day-night element makes five seem excessive.
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New Zealand lost the key wicket of the in-form Williamson in the first session, after being trapped leg before wicket by Starc.
