Nasser Hussain says England's fielding needs to improve by 600 per cent if it wants to be competitive in the tri-series and next month's World Cup in South Africa.

England players dropped catches, missed run out opportunities and were slow to pick up and throw as Sri Lanka made 7-284 at the SCG tonight before securing a 31-run victory.

"How much does the fielding have to improve ... I'd say by about 600 per cent," said Hussain.

"I'd say it's the one area that is beyond belief at the moment.

"It's just not good enough, dropped catches and stuff."

Meanwhile, Hussain said wayward fast bowler Steve Harmison would be persevered with because he was a potential match-winner.

Harmison bowled nine wides in his nine-over stint of 0-59 after his 11 wides against Australia on the weekend - when England lost by only seven runs.

He also dropped two catches that he should have taken.

"He's a bit of an enigma at the moment," said Hussain.

"We've got to keep working with him - one thing we mustn't do is work against him, we must work with him because he has the potential in both forms of cricket of providing your team with something English cricket hasn't had for a while.

"He also has the potential of looking very average.

"We have to work with him to make sure we're constantly backing him up, constantly supporting him, giving him everything he needs off the field, and he must make sure he tries to take all of those opportunities.

"We could take the easy option and leave him out, but we might go back to a level we were before.

"By getting him right, that's the only way we'll go up to a different level.

"Don't throw your arms up in the air just because he dropped a catch, work with him, don't blame him for everything, work with him all the time.

"He's an asset to English cricket. He needs his captain's support when he has difficult days like today."

Sri Lanka's win moved it within two points of England on the tri-series ladder.

Australia leads on 22 points from five games followed by England on 14 from six and Sri Lanka on 12 from five.

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