Also turning green with a 1"ish wall thickness, seal it or restrict the drying till its dry will help. Some people use the microwave some put it in a plastic bag, reversing the bag each day in the beginning then when the sweating ceases a little longer with the bag open a little, then remove it to finish drying. That can take 2mo +/-
The reason the fresh turned piece cracked is it dried at a rate that was way to fast for wood.
It takes about 4-6wks to (under proper conditions) release moisture from 1" thick wood without creating drying degrade . Thinner isnt quicker,, it has less ability to not crack.
Microwave method works good.
Short low pwr initially, let it cool , continue. take your time (a little bit a day for a few days helps, store it in a bag while it waits,, this lets moisture naturally migrate ).
wild grain or knots are a little harder to dry ,, shame cause thats the best figure.
The drawback to mw method is wood is very pliable when its either wet or hot (see steam bending), so heating wet wood allows the stress areas to give and crack. thats why you want to just make it a little warm and go slow.
Also rough out 1" walls then seal with Anchor seal or any wax based product. Latex paint is porous so it would have to be very thick,, oil based may stain deep, the Anchor seal stays on the surface good and doesn't stain the wood.
make 2 give 1 to a kid.
jim