"Look, I was on radio a couple of days ago, back here in Australia, and I thought the absolute best time for Davey to retire, if he was thinking about it at all, was after the Sydney Test match here in Australia," Ponting told the ICC Review podcast.

"He'd just played his 100th Test in Melbourne, and obviously got 200 in the first innings down there. And to bow out in front of his home crowd is obviously the way that every player would like to finish their careers.

"Who knows now that opportunity might not come around again for Davey, you know. That's nearly another 12 months away."

"They're probably going to have similar things to think about when they get to the UK because David's record in the UK is not as strong as it is in some other places around the world."

However, Ponting added that Warner deserved to finish his Test career on his terms.

"I think his career deserves to finish the way he wants it to," he said. "Sort of not to be dropped or tapped on the shoulder in the middle of an overseas tour and have his career end in that way. That's why I just hope he can find it within himself to score a lot of runs between now and next summer."

"We'll see where that lands in terms of the future but I see him [Head] as an incredible middle order player as well," coach Andrew McDonald said. "He can shift the momentum of the game in the middle order and I don't think we want to take that away from this team. I think he can get on the back of others' work at the top of the order in different conditions."