Vaughan (right) expects Harmison to play in the second tour game

The tourists batted out a dull draw in their opening game on Thursday and begin another three-day game on Sunday.

"It is about trying to balance it right," said captain Michael Vaughan.

"There are still a couple of places up for grabs and we have to make sure that, come Kandy on 1 December, we get our XI right."

Interview: England captain Michael Vaughan

Harmison will be looking forward to getting into the XI for the three-day game and getting some more overs under his belt Michael Vaughan

England were allowed to field all 16 squad members in the opening match but will be restricted to the standard XI in the next game in Colombo, although Vaughan insisted it may not be the Test line-up.

"There might be a couple of spaces where we can give players a chance and rest a couple of players who have played a lot of cricket recently," he explained.

Vaughan, coach Peter Moores and chairman of selectors David Graveney, who arrives on Sunday, could use the second game to take a look at the two candidates for the number six batting spot.

Owais Shah and Ravi Bopara batted together during the final session on Thursday, with Bopara particularly impressive in making 40.

The ease with which England batted on a slow wicket allowed Vaughan to put into context the displays of the two spinners, Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann, who took a single wicket each.

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"[On Wednesday] I would have said they were disappointing but having batted on that wicket I could see why they were going at nearly four runs an over," he said.

"It was a really flat pitch and, as their spinners showed, it was very difficult to keep any batsman quiet.

"They got better and better the longer they bowled and certainly Monty started to get back to what he was in the summer, which is a good sign for us."

Panesar has been assured of a Test spot but England must still decide whether to use him in tandem with Swann or whether to field three front-line pace bowlers.

The late arrival of Steve Harmison's boots left only one spell to judge the pace bowler, who is returning from hernia surgery.

Vaughan suggested the Durham man would have another chance to prove his credentials, with five seamers battling for Test places.

"He got six overs and there were signs of promise there," said Vaughan of Harmison. "He has had two weeks in South Africa, which have been very productive for him.

Fernando is expected to play in the Tests despite an ankle problem

"He will be looking forward to getting into the XI for the three-day game and getting some more overs under his belt."

Meanwhile Sri Lanka have returned from Australia, where they suffered a heavy 2-0 defeat in the Test series.

Their big decision is who will replace veteran batsman Marvan Atapattu, who has quit international cricket.

Captain Mahela Jayawardene is confident, though, that seamer Dilhara Fernando will play in the series despite an ankle injury.

"Dilhara has had that ankle problem for quite some time, he saw some specialist doctors in Australia and they have recommended an operation, probably for early April," said Jayawardene.