Johnson entitled to his opinions, says Warner

David Warner has opened up on Mitchell Johnson's criticism of his retirement plans, saying his former teammate is entitled to his opinions, however scathing.

Warner refusing to add fuel to the fire comes as Australian captain Pat Cummins says the Test team would be "fiercely protective" of the veteran opener in the face of external attacks.

Warner is hoping to call time on an illustrious Test career after Australia faces Pakistan on his home deck at the SCG in the third and final match of the NRMA Insurance series that begins in Perth next week.

But in aWest Australian column at the weekend, Johnson questioned whether Warner had been in strong enough form to set his own retirement date and opened up old wounds by referencing his role in the ball-tampering saga.

The retired quick has been roundly condemned for the extent of his critique, which included suggesting that "Bunnings would sell out of sandpaper" in the lead-up to the mooted retirement Test.

Warner himself laughed the comments off as he addressed them for the first time.

"It wouldn't be a summer without a headline, would it?" he said at the launch of Fox Cricket's summer coverage in Parramatta on Friday.

"It is what it is. Everyone's entitled to their own opinions. 

"Moving forward, we're looking forward to a nice Test over in the west."

Since the summer of 2020-21, Warner has managed one Test century from 25 matches - a memorable double-hundred against South Africa in his 100th Test at the MCG in late 2022.

Australian selectors have stuck by Warner amid that period, which has featured two dismissals in the 90s, and are in the midst of determining his replacement beyond Sydney.

The playing group has been just as supportive in recent days.

"I think we protect each other a lot," Cummins said. "We've been through a lot over the years, our boys.

"Someone like Davey or Steve (Smith), I've played with them for a dozen years now so we're fiercely protective of each other. 

"Sometimes you've got to remind yourself of the amount of positive support that is out there."

Warner, focused on ending his career on a high, said he learned long ago to knuckle down in the face of criticism like Johnson's.

"My parents ingrained that into me," he said. "They taught me every day to fight and work hard.

"When you go onto the world stage and you don't realise what comes with that, it's a lot of media, a lot of criticism but a lot of positive. 

"I think what's more important is what you see here today, the people coming out to support cricket."

Cummins is hopeful Australia can move past the saga ahead of their first home match since a successful winter that yielded wins in the ODI World Cup and World Test Championship finals as well as a drawn Ashes series in England.

The Perth Test is also set to mark Nathan Lyon's return from the calf injury he suffered early in the Ashes.

"We've had arguably our most successful year ever. We're going into a really exciting summer," Cummins said.

"There's so many positive things around Australian cricket I think we should be talking about and we're focusing on that (Johnson's column)."

NRMA Insurance Test series v Pakistan

Prime Minister's XI v Pakistan XI: December 6-9, Manuka Oval (10.30am AEDT)

First Test: December 14-18, Perth Stadium (1.20pm AEDT)

Second Test: December 26-30, MCG (10.30am AEDT)

Third Test: January 3-7, SCG (10.30am AEDT)

Australia squad: (first Test only) Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Lance Morris, Steve Smith, Mitch Starc, David Warner

Pakistan squad: Shan Masood (c), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi