 Harmison had an unhappy return to England action in Colombo |
The Durham paceman bowled six overs for 48 runs with no wickets in the opening warm-up match in Colombo.
He had rejoined the squad for their match against the Board President's XI after a spell playing in South Africa, which followed hernia surgery.
"I think he'd say there's a bit of fine-tuning to go," England coach Peter Moores told BBC Radio 4.
"He knows he's fighting hard like everybody else to get into that team. Over the last few months we've seen other bowlers come in and do very well.
"Jimmy Anderson has come in and done well, Ryan Sidebottom, Stuart Broad in the one-dayers - it's very exciting. And obviously getting Matthew Hoggard back is a real bonus as well.
"It makes for a very competitive squad, a very competitive bowling unit.
"We know out here that although a lot relies on spin, it's also very important that your seamers fire early on with a new ball in hand and set things up for the spinners when they come on."
After a mix-up over his boots, Harmison finally bowled on Wednesday afternoon and managed four overs before tea and two overs after the interval.
He was hit for 48, and sent down six no-balls and a wide.
"Physically he's in good shape, he's worked very hard in the two or three weeks in South Africa and bowled quite a lot of overs and he feels good about that," Moores told BBC Radio 4.
"It's a shame that through no fault of his own they lost his bag in Dubai so he only got six overs in the game, we'd like to have put a bit more into him.
"I thought he came through OK, he looks nicely lined up."
Harmison told BBC Radio 5 Live: "I feel I've started strongly here, even though I didn't take any wickets and I've gone for a few runs.
"I enjoyed the experience in South Africa - and I got 13 wickets in two games, you can't argue with that.
"There's still enough time in the nets to prove yourself - whether you're Stuart Broad, who hasn't played a Test, or if you're Stephen Harmison, and you've played 55 Tests with 200 wickets behind you."
Harmison's form has been under the spotlight ever since the first ball of the Ashes series almost exactly a year ago - a wide to second slip - preceded a disappointing series with the new ball.
Despite career figures of 205 Test wickets at an average of 30.82, in nine Tests over the last 12 months, he has taken 26 wickets at 44.69 and has failed to take five wickets in an innings.
Having now retired from one-day international cricket, Harmison last played for England against the West Indies in June, before having the hernia operation which ruled him out of the entire series against India.
He made an abortive comeback for Durham in August before suffering a side injury which ruled him out of the rest of the domestic season, including their Friends Provident Trophy final triumph at Lord's.
Left out of the initial squad for the Sri Lanka Tests until he had proved his fitness, he travelled to South Africa to play for Highveld Lions where he was closely monitored by England bowling coach and Durham team-mate Ottis Gibson.
Harmison had sat out the first day's play against the President's XI, having arrived from South Africa just before play began.
But the kit bag containing his favoured bowling boots - and more importantly, the insoles he uses inside the boots to provide support - was still in transit via Dubai.
Tour manager Phil Neale travelled to Colombo Airport to retrieve the missing bag - and Harmison finally got in on the action.
"I worked through a few things in the indoor school, so in that respect, I'm happy my bag didn't come till two o'clock," he added.
"It's not easy without the right boots - my action doesn't come straight out of the ECB manual."
The first Test begins in Kandy on 1 December.
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