Of the 45 Test matches scheduled to take place during 2015, none is more important than the one between Australia and New Zealand that starts on Nov. 27 at the Adelaide Oval.

The final Test of a three-match series, its significance derives not so much from what happens on the field—entertaining as it will undoubtedly be—but from the fact that it is a template for the future. As the first ever day-night Test, it could set precedent for Test cricket to sustain its appeal.

Day-night was introduced in 1977, like so many cricketing innovations, by Australian media magnate Kerry Packer’s unofficial World Series. It first outbid the game’s official governing bodies for the signatures of most of the world’s leading players, and then ushered in a revolution in the way the game was played, packaged and broadcast. The authorities absorbed a lot of lessons from the series, among them the popularity of day-night one-day cricket, with the first floodlit One-Day International following in 1979.

Day-night cricket has consistently been popular with fans, and the Adelaide Test will almost certainly get more people to the ground and watching on TV across Australia than comparable daytime games. The second half of each day’s play, which starts at

2 p.m. local time, will still be over by 9.30 p.m. at the latest. It helps that it is a keenly anticipated series to start with.

It pits an Australian side with some phenomenal talent but a distinctly threadbare batting lineup and a New Zealand side that plays a thrilling brand of aggressive cricket in the image of its captain Brendon McCullum in every format.