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After a vote, proposed changes to the County Championship will remain a two-division structure with only 14 matches per team.

Eighteen first-class counties were given the option of choosing between the current system, which featured a 12-team top flight, six bottom tier teams, and 13-game games between each team.

One day before the final round of this year’s County Championship games begin, the ballot returned a result on Tuesday.

To pass the reform, a majority of the 12 counties needed to vote for it, a requirement that was not met.

The County Championship’s current structure, which has 10 teams in Division One and eight in Division Two, is preserved thanks to the results of the vote, with two teams promoted and relegated between each.

It puts an extensive examination of the counties’ domestic schedule to an end.

In August, a change to the Twenty20 Blast was approved, reducing the number of group games from 14 to 12 and introducing the season’s finals day.

However, the counties’ differing viewpoints on how the Championship should proceed have kept the current configuration.

There were several suggestions made, including reducing the number of first-class matches to 12, as recommended by the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA).

The 12-team top flight with a 13-match structure was suggested when it became clear the shift from 14 to 12 was dead in the water.

To make up the 13 games, a county would need to play two more teams twice and three more times in order to top the six teams.

The changes, according to supporters, will give more teams more opportunities to play over the summer and eliminate dead games at the end of the season. The PCA would have benefited from the reduced number of matches in some way.

However, a number of counties made it known that they wanted to stay in the two-division structure. The proposed system’s opponents felt it was too difficult to follow and lacked enough “best v best” appeal.

The counties’ counties are clear about a number of issues that are still unresolved as the championship matches near their final round of matches come to an end after the domestic consultation’s conclusion.

The relegation battle would have effectively been ended if there had been a reform vote, but Sussex, Essex, Yorkshire, Hampshire, and Durham are now forced to compete to avoid joining Worcestershire in Division Two. Both Glamorgan and Leicestershire have already secured promotion.

With a 4-1 victory over Jiang Jun from China, Mark Allen made it to the second round of the British Open.

Allen jumped out in the Cheltenham final to win his first ranking title in 19 months with a victory in the Sunday English Open final.

Jun was out of the lead after the first two frames, but the Northern Irish player rallied to claim the third frame.

Jun did hold on for the final frame of the fourth round, but former world no. 1 Allen completed the feat in the fifth to advance to the next round.

Aston Villa president of football operations Monchi is stepping down with former Real Sociedad sporting director Roberto Olabe replacing him.

Olabe, 57, spent seven years at Sociedad before leaving at the end of last season.

Monchi’s exit was confirmed by Villa on Tuesday with the club 18th in the Premier League after a winless start to the season.

The Spaniard will remain in an advisory role, the club added.

“Firstly, I would like to thank Monchi for his hard work and invaluable contribution as president of football operations during an exciting period at Aston Villa,” chairman Nassef Sawiris said.

“His commitment and vision has directly contributed to the club’s recent successes, reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League as well as qualifying for Europe for three consecutive seasons.

“We are delighted that Roberto is joining Aston Villa. He has built a reputation as someone who can spot talent that can be developed and we look forward to supporting him to achieve the ambitions we have for V Sports and Aston Villa.”

Monchi joined Villa in 2023 from Spanish side Sevilla, where he had been sporting director, having previously worked with Villa boss Unai Emery at the La Liga club.

Monchi and Emery helped take Villa to the Europa Conference League semi-finals in 2024 and secured a Champions League place as they finished fourth in the Premier League that season.

They went on to reach the Champions League quarter-finals last term, being knocked out by eventual winners Paris St-Germain.

“We have enjoyed so many special moments together and I look forward to continuing to support V Sports in an advisory role,” Monchi said.

Villa have started poorly this season, failing to win any of their opening five league games and scoring just once.

Villa boss Emery was involved in choosing Olabe as Monchi’s replacement.

Olabe is from Vitoria, part of the Basque Country in northern Spain, which is about 100 miles from Emery’s hometown of Hondarribia.

He managed Real Union between 2011 and 2012, the team which Emery holds a controlling stake in and where his brother Igor is president.

While Monchi’s departure comes at a time of poor results, it does not impact Emery’s position and his influence on Olabe’s arrival underlines that his position remains strong at Villa.

During Olabe’s time at Sociedad they won the 2020 Copa del Rey, their first major silverware in 33 years.

They also bought Alexander Isak from Willem II and sold him to Newcastle for £63m in 2022, while Martin Zubimendi came through the club’s academy before his £60m departure to Arsenal this summer.

The Gunners also signed Mikel Merino from Sociedad, while Olabe brought in Martin Odegaard on loan from Real Madrid the season before he moved to Emirates Stadium.

Monchi and Emery have tried to reshape Villa, spending big on defensive midfielder Amadou Onana, signed for £50m in 2024, and attacker Moussa Diaby, who arrived in 2023 for £43m.

But Diaby was sold to Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad after just one season while Onana has struggled with injury.

The imposing Belgium defensive midfielder made just 22 league starts last season after his club record move from Everton, and he is currently out with a hamstring injury having played just twice this term.

In the past 18 months Villa’s spending has been restricted because of profit and sustainability rules (PSR) imposed by both the Premier League and Uefa.

In July, Villa were fined £9.5m by European football’s governing body for breaching financial rules.

They needed to sell Douglas Luiz in 2024 to balance the books, with the midfielder joining Juventus for £42m. He made just three Serie A starts last season and joined Nottingham Forest on loan last month.

The sales of Omari Kellyman to Chelsea for £19m and Tim Iroegbunam to Everton for £9m last year also generated important profit, while Jacob Ramsey was sold to Newcastle for £40m last month, with all three having come through the club’s academy.

Just two of the starting XI in Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Sunderland – Rogers and striker Evann Guessand – were signed by Emery and Monchi.

This summer Villa signed goalkeeper Marco Bizot from Brest and Guessand from Nice for £30m, before the deadline day arrivals of Harvey Elliott, Jadon Sancho and Victor Lindelof.

England Under-21s midfielder Elliott joined on loan from Liverpool with a £35m obligation to buy, while Sancho moved on loan from Manchester United and his former Old Trafford team-mate Lindelof joined on a free transfer.