England wary over Harmison return

Harmison's last game for England was the second Test in India

Coach Duncan Fletcher says paceman Steve Harmison will not be rushed back for England despite the frustrating draw in the first Test with Sri Lanka.

Harmison returned to action on Sunday for the first time in two months after suffering a shin problem in India.

He will play in Durham's four-day game against Nottinghamshire from Wednesday, with the second Test on Thursday week.

"Hopefully he'll be fit for the next Test but we have to be very careful about his fitness," Fletcher said.

"There is a lot of cricket ahead of us and if we rush him and there is a problem we're only going to have to rest him again later on.

"We have to make sure everyone is fully fit when they come back and play for us."

Harmison, who took 2-47 in Durham's C&G Trophy defeat by Lancashire on Sunday, came home from the tour of India before the third Test.

He's played one game after two months off so we'll have to see how fit he is Fletcher on Harmison

Without him, England failed to bowl Sri Lanka out in their second innings in 199 overs.

Even if he emerges unscathed from his workout at Trent Bridge, Fletcher says the hosts could adopt a safety-first approach.

"He's only played one game so far after two months off so we'll have to see how fit he is and how he pulls up after that.

"There's a good chance he'll be called up into the squad and we'll analyse him after that, but he's only going to have one four-day game before then."

The players who did feature at Lord's will not be in action before Edgbaston, having endured three-and-a-half days in the field.

Feature: England's costly drops

England helped Sri Lanka achieve safety by dropping nine catches but Fletcher insists there is no cause for concern.

"It was very disappointing but the guys didn't mean to drop the catches and we didn't change our practices, we did the same routines and they caught very well.

"It doesn't happen often, but we do have off-days and the couple of occasions it has happened before have also been at Lord's.

"We caught very, very well in the winter in foreign conditions so you've got to put the catching at Lord's down to the fact sometimes things like that just happen. "