Ricky Ponting: David Warner could have retired on a high after MCG double hundred

Ponting believes Australia have a selection headache on their hands heading into this summer's Ashes but hopes Warner can bow out on his own terms

Ricky Ponting believes David Warner has missed the "best time" to retire from Test cricket, indicating the opener could have bowed out on a high after scoring a double hundred at the MCG against South Africa in December.

Warner's place in Australia's Test side has been up for debate of late, with the 36-year-old scoring just two half-centuries in 19 innings prior to his knock in Melbourne in his 100th Test match.

He hasn't passed 15 in four innings since then and left Australia's ongoing tour of India following the second Test after suffering a concussion and picking up a hairline fracture in his elbow.

With the series finale against South Africa taking place at the SCG in Sydney, Warner's home ground, Ponting reckons that would have been the perfect venue for his Test swansong.

^{Ricky Ponting [Darrian Traynor/Getty Images]}

While the former Australia captain is confident Warner will return to the side for the World Test Championship final in June, his involvement in the Ashes is less certain.

"He'd just played his 100th Test in Melbourne, and got 200 in the first innings down there. To bow out in front of his home crowd is obviously the way that every player would like to finish their careers," Ponting told The ICC Review. "That opportunity might not come around again for Davey. That's nearly another 12 months away.

"I'd love it if he could do that. It'd be fitting if he could finish in front of his home crowd but he's going to have to play really well between now and then for that to happen.

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

"If he does, then next summer might be the ideal opportunity for him."

^{Warner struggled with the bat during the 2019 Ashes [Stu Forster/Getty Images]}

On Warner's involvement in the Ashes, he continued: "I think they'll definitely want to play him in the World Test Championship.

"They've got some really big decisions to make leading into the Ashes. A bit like some of the selection issues they had coming into India. David's record in the UK is not as strong as it is in some other places around the world.

"But I don't think it's the end of David Warner. I think they'll bring him back for that one game. If he does well there, then he'll probably start the Ashes and we'll see from there."

Since making his Test debut in 2011, Warner has scored 8,158 runs at 45.57 in 103 first-class outings for Australia. In England, however, he has scored 651 runs at 26.04 in 13 Test appearances, including just 95 runs in 10 innings back in 2019.