So the way we did fielding in CH was as follows:
* each fielders has 5 attributes: running speed, strength, skill, awareness, fitness
* the game also keeps track of the players stamina which affects all of the above
* awareness is a measure of how quickly the fielder reacts to the situation (eg. the batsmen tip and run, or short leg realises that the ball popped off the pad)
* skill refers to how well the player dives, catches and also how accurately they throw
* fitness is a modifier for stamina - the higher your fitness the slower you lose stamina
Fielders can be assigned favourite fielding positions in the editor but we didn't have time to fill that in for the default roster. When assigning fielders the AI will assign faster fielders with strong arms to the outfield first and then assign the rest.
When chasing after a ball more than one fielder can go after it. There's a very basic message system in place. If a fielder thinks he'll get there the quickets he'll tell the closest fielders to him and they'll back off (unless they think he won't). You'll often see fielders diving on the boundary and another fielder collecting the rebound.
@Dutch