Whatever else happens in Saturday's final of the CricInfo Women's World Cup it will be the end of the line for two long-serving New Zealand campaigners.

Debbie Hockley and Catherine Campbell go into the final as the leading run scorer and wicket-taker, respectively, in women's One-Day International cricket.

The final is their third, after losses in 1993 at Lord's and in 1997 at Eden Gardens.

As is the case with modern players, they are not announcing their retirements, they're just not likely to be available in the future.

There's not even a hint of the maudlin at the prospect of cricket no longer being a central part of their lives.

They've got a final to win and that is the total concentration for the moment.

The pair believe the New Zealand side is better prepared now than ever before.

In 1993, when they had probably their best chance to date to win the World Cup, they found themselves in the final and were overwhelmed by an England team they had beaten comprehensively in preliminary round play.

Last time, in India, they were beaten by a better Australian side.

Hockley believes this year's New Zealand team is "infinitely better" than the side which played in India.

Campbell said: "There's more of a hardened attitude in the side. And we've got some stars with our batting.

"We've always been quite good on the bowling front and we've always had good fielding. But we have some really good batters this time.

"And on these wickets it has got to be the batting that wins the game, whether the side is batting first or second," she said.

The pair acknowledged that Australia have also improved since the last tournament, but as Hockley said, "We had the room for the greatest improvement after being beaten 3-0 by them earlier in the year."

The pair were agreed that while New Zealand's overall batting was improved with players looking to be much more aggressive, and playing a wider range of shots, the arrival of a consistent Emily Drumm has also been a significant factor.

"After years of promise, her consistency has never been as good as now. Her fielding is going really well and she is leading from the front," Campbell said.

"And she is receptive to our input," Hockley said.

The side overall feels they didn't test Australia as well as they might have in the preliminary round game.

"It will be a real test for us, especially in the batting. They've got the best all-round attack in the world," Campbell said.

Knowing the Australians from all her years of play against them, Hockley said she expected them to be wary of New Zealand.

"We've had seven games since that first game, and our batsmen are in really good nick," she said.

"I've always enjoyed playing them the most. They are the hardest opposition to play. They are the greatest test of all the skills."

And what better way to go out, than to play to absolute maximum capacity, applying the skills acquired in a lifetime in cricket to try and beat your keenest opponent?

They've enjoyed being able to play at home and to see the public response to the tournament being played at Lincoln University.

For Campbell, who has spent the better part of the year organising the tournament, it was especially pleasing.

"Everyone that has been here has enjoyed it."

Hockley said: "It's been really nice to watch other teams. Teams have watched other teams, learned from them, seen their tactics. It's been fantastic. It has been the first opportunity we have had to get to see the other teams play.

"Yesterday [Tuesday] was the first day when we had nothing to do and there was no cricket to watch."

Campbell added it had been a thrill to see good cricket played.

"It's been a thrill to see the South Africans' fielding, the improvement in the Sri Lankan team during the tournament. It was great having the school kids bussed in for games.

"Having CricInfo involved has been a good innovation. Before we would try to find out about how other games went but the scores were never in the papers. And their CricInfo Christmas party at the end of the round-robin was the first time we have ever had a function like that with all the teams involved at a World Cup," she said.

And for the pair of them there has been the involvement as players of passing from the days of control by the New Zealand Women's Cricket Council through the amalgamation with New Zealand Cricket and all the benefits that have accrued from that.

The perfect scenario for them both would be to go out on a winning note, but they can't afford to consider that.

There's too much work to go in to be ready for the opponent they respect the most.

© CricInfo