Where:
C2:C2000 is the status column
D2:D2000 is the priority column
B$2 is the status qualifying criteria (x)
$A3 is the priority qualifying criteria (y)
This gives a count of all entries where the 'status' = x and 'priority' = y
{=SUM(('Extract'!$C$2:'Extract'!$C$2000=B$2)*('Extract'!$D$2:'Extract'!$D$2000=$A3))}
Use ctrl-shift-enter to add the curly brackets or else the array formula won't work properly.
*The above example looks for the 'Extract' worksheet outside of [this] spreadsheet.
Example of internal worksheet:
{=SUM(($B$2:$B$155="High")*($D$2:$D$155="Quality Acceptance Phase"))}
