David Warner should end his Test career on his own terms rather than wait to be dropped, with Australia great Ricky Ponting suggesting he could bow out at the end of the series with South Africa.

The opener was dismissed for a first-ball duck on day one of the first Test in Brisbane on Saturday, amid a two-year spell where he has failed to post a century.

With tours to India and England coming up in 2023 – where Warner has posted historically below-par averages of 24.25 and 26.04 – questions over his future continue to swirl, particularly after he recently withdrew a review of his lifetime leadership ban.

The final match of the three-Test series with South Africa comes at the batsman's home venue of the Sydney Cricket Ground, and ex-captain Ponting has now speculated whether he will call time in the aftermath, before he is pushed out.

"I think what he should be doing is being as realistic and looking to the future as he can," he told Channel 7. "He deserves the chance to finish the way he wants to finish.

"I would hate to see him get to an Indian tour or at the start of the Ashes tour and then get the tap on the shoulder. That would be a disappointing way for his career to end.

"It might be after the [final] Test [of this series]. Let's wait and see."

Fellow Test veteran Nathan Lyon – who took 3-14 as Australia bowled the Proteas out for 152 before reaching 145-5 at the close on Saturday – says the batsman remains supported by the rest of his team-mates, regardless of his future.

"We all know the X-factor of a cricketer that David Warner is and the type of batter he is," he added.

"He's got 100 per cent support from the changing room and [that] should be the whole Australian public, to be honest with you. I'm expecting David to come out and do amazing things."